Unravel Me (A General Hux Story)
by SilentWanderlust
Summary: Officer Sera Landal fled her life, mirroring her father's path in the military. A simple existence where she ruled nothing, expected nothing, and no one knew her lineage. When her two worlds converge through fire and brimstone, Sera makes her life's second most poignant decision, colliding with the most powerful man in the First Order.
1. Heaven and Hell

A jarring shudder shook the rapidly crumbling planet. Officer Sera Landal stumbled into the closest wall with a painful thud. Grasping at the chilly metal gave no respite from the anxious heat rushing through her veins.

Sera edged towards the closest window, using the slippery wall for a semblance of support. The planet unraveled on the other side of the cracking glass.

Snowflakes swayed listlessly, falling to the ground like disaster hadn't suddenly struck. Ashy reds and burning oranges coated the skyline as the planet fell in on itself. Two contrasting views laid out before her like heaven and hell collided.

Cursing, Sera spun to watch her fellow officers bolt through the hall. Blood and sweat painted the glistening floor like a grotesque watercolor. Wayward arms flew every which way as officers steadied one another through each violent shake.

Of course this irreparable disaster struck months before her orders were up.

A stone-faced Stormtrooper with a cracked helmet gripped Sera's arm hard and pulled her along with their rushing group. Wind surged from her lungs and she lunged forward to keep pace.

"Officer," the Stormtrooper yelled over the hiss and grumble of impending explosion. "What are you still doing here? Get to the hangars."

Grateful for the soldier's concerned impertinence, Sera followed.

Hurried feet pounded against the scuffed floor. Sera silently tallied the people around her as they twisted and turned through the halls. It was simple finding officers in the pool of white troopers; Specs of vivid blue dotted the snow colored mob.

The floor creaked and Sera threw her arms out in front of her to stabilize. She jerked away from a stumbling trooper and lost her footing in the process. Her leading trooper clutched her by the coat, stopping a painful crash to the cracking floor. She dangled in shock before fumbling for SV-2095's arms to lift herself up.

Her core ached with fatigue and her head pounded with adrenaline. Counting over and over again and coming up short. So she ran faster, bolting past crowds of people, confirming her worst fear.

The multiple story high hangar came into view. Low ranking soldiers herded leaders into every available ship like pigs destined for slaughter. Chairs rolled to and fro, up and down the wavering hangar. Bolts popped loose from their hold and machines of every kind toppled to the floor, unable to sustain their place in the barrage of movement.

A chill wriggled up Sera's spine when she completed her inaccurate count for the fifth time. Somebody was missing. All her fellow Officers stood boarding the departing ship, but something felt amiss.

 _Who is it, who is it, who is it?_ Sera shrieked in her head, spinning, trying to match what she saw with her nagging gut feeling.

"Who's missing?" Sera screamed towards Lieutenant Mitaka. "Somebody's missing."

Her Stormtrooper escort caught up and shoved her into the ship grumbling about forgetting it.

"Get off me," Sera gripped her palm to prep and slammed her elbow into the storm trooper's throat between his body armor and helmet. He buckled forward, grasping desperately for his neck from the air knocked out of him.

Mitaka grabbed her around the waist and she struggled hard against him. She thrashed her arms and legs, tears stained her eyes from the effort. Mitaka was no match for her but the adrenaline seemed to afford him unusual strength and will.

A handsomely built ship lay vacant on the dock with Stormtroopers speaking desperately into their coms and running between each other. A sleek black exterior gleamed brightly from the hundreds of swaying lights illuminating the hangar. Sera would recognize that ship anywhere.

"I know who it is," Sera pulled her elbows into herself and spun in Mitaka's arms. He gave her a concerned look as she hooked her foot around his ankle. Pulling hard, she knocked him off balance. "I'm getting him. You can't stop me so don't you dare try."

The hangar leaned forward and rattled. Mitaka lost what little grip remained on Sera and she slipped expertly through his fingers.

Stumbling forward, she rushed from the ship, shoving every white mask out of the way that obstructed her path. Man after man reached for her but she dodged to the slide and slid under legs, maneuvering her way around the people trying to stop her.

The hangar exit came into view. Loose wires spurted electricity and smoke billowed around her sparking fires that sizzled and burst around her.

The whir of engines obstructed Sera's hearing but as she looked back, her entire team motioned for her to return. Mitaka was running the path Sera had tried but a wall of Stormtroopers stonewalled his path, disallowing another Officer evading them.

Sera's oversized coat billowed behind her as she ran faster than her muscles could take. The material's resistance impeded her and she yelled in frustration. She ripped it from herself, heaving it behind her in an ungraceful feat of strength. She watched in fascination as it tumbled down the slight incline forming as the planet's structure failed.

Her muscles strained to sprint through the rapidly deteriorating base. Turning left and right and left again, she swore her memory wasn't failing her; It couldn't fail her or she was dead having achieved nothing.

The shock of strenuous activity hit in as she heaved herself around the final corner. Sera grabbed the doorknob to the office she'd been hunting for. Fingers shaking and head pounding, Sera threw open the door. The building rocked and she slipped and her knee gave out with a painful pop. Sera fell back, landing on her tailbone with a nauseating crack. Her bones rang with the impact.

"Fuck," She nursed her wounded hip as a hand reached towards her. She grabbed it with both of hers. They heaved her forward from the ground with shocking strength and Sera tumbled into General Hux. His usually impeccable image was faltering. Hux appeared like everybody else escaping the imploding planet. He suddenly looked breakable and _human_.

"What are you doing, Officer?" General Hux dropped his hold and stepped back. "Get to the ships immediately."

"What am _I_ doing?" Sera shrieked over the deafening sounds of the crumbling planet. Something about his austerity and intimidating stance didn't translate in this dire situation. Her reserve and intention to remain unnoticed during her enlistment failed her but that no longer mattered. They weren't necessarily making it off Starkiller alive but that didn't mean she wouldn't try. The First Order wouldn't be half as strong without Hux.

The ever-present wild look in Hux's eyes only shined brighter as he watched her think through her internal dilemma, looking past him all the while.

She saw his faltering demeanor from the corner of her eye. His slicked hair was coming apart and his shaking hands made Sera's heart ached for him and everything he'd just lost.

"You're not leaving! I'm not letting you kill yourself. That's what you're doing, isn't it?" Vision blurry and chest heaving, Sera refused to back down from Hux's calculated stare.

"You're defying a direct order, Officer," Hux warned in a dark tone, ignoring her entire previous comment. He watched her with fascination. She looked familiar but he couldn't place where exactly he'd seen her on the ship before.

His warning's intensity was negated as he gave a strangled growl. The room dipped to the side and he grabbed Sera's shoulders to hold her in place. Instead of steadying them, they slipped and fell to the ground in an undignified heap of tangled limbs and uncomfortable closeness.

Sera looked up at Hux, blinking away the light blinding her eyes from her second bone-rattling fall. His chest heaved and he sat, seemingly waiting for her cue.

Sera dove forward to dig her nails into his chest, crinkling his previously pristine uniform which began collecting dirt and grime from her hands.

They were at eye level on the floor.

"I don't care, sir. You can't stay here," Sera closed her eyes as smoke singed her deep in her lids. She felt no movement and decided to aim for the jugular. "If you stay, you're a disgrace and half the leader I thought you to be."

She cracked her lids open enough to see Hux's face shift from fascination to disgust.

"There's no point, Officer," His voice cracked uncharacteristically. Hux's solemn face faded into an acute hopelessness that constricted Sera's pounding heart. "My life's work is destroyed. Leader Snoke will kill me for this failure, he has already called me to him. I would prefer to do it myself. I command this base and I will go down with it."

Sera shook her head in disbelief. Her shoulders fell forward and she pushed her hand up to Hux's quivering shoulder as if praying at his feet, hanging her head humbly at the hands of fate. She gripped hard for support and covered her dirt-stained face with her other hand. The searing smoke drew wetness from her eyes. Each second they were open and exposed to the elemental parasite, the worse the pain grew.

The building groaned again. Bits of wall cracked open, spidering out across the room. Dust fell on their prone forms as a portion of ceiling crashed down right beside them. Hux clutched Sera's head and shoved it down with his own to keep anything from crushing her skull.

His jagged breathing was hard against her side as they waited for more falling debris. His head rested on hers and she felt his heart ramming into his chest.

"Fine," Sera mumbled, shoving the General away. She scowled at the man she'd revered so desperately. "If this is your choice, I'm staying with you. You're not dying alone, even if it's the cowardly way out. Even though you've proven yourself to be a useless coward."

Poking the beast was a dangerous game but any semblance of proper etiquette and respect for authority vanished the moment the planet ruptured. She'd already ignored proper evacuation protocol, attacked a peer, assaulted a superior officer, and insulted the First Order's golden General to his face. If Sera was dying with him, she would hold nothing back from the final person she'd see in the galaxy.

Hux's hair fell farther out of place as he toppled back from her shove. His mouth slacked and eyes widened as he stared at the woman clouded in dust and smoke. It coated her haggard face and tearing uniform. She was completely blackened by soot but her light hair glistened through the darkness of sweat and grime.

Hux had never seen anything like this woman lying prone on the floor. Her eyes burned with the fire of adrenaline and conviction, inexplicably drawing him in.

She wasn't afraid. Or if she was, she controlled it better than he. Hux swallowed a shallow breath from ash obstructing his airways. It a moment of disaster she feared nothing. What she displayed was fury and disappointment in _him_.

"If you ever call me useless again, I will kill you," Hux shoved the fallen ceiling away with unwarranted force and grabbed Sera by the arm to pull her up with him. He had her so close, they were nearly nose to nose as he bent down to look at her straight on.

"Little good that will do when we're dead," Sera eyes flicked back and forth between his own and found nothing but rage and fear.

"Your name?" It was a grizzly sound as he struggled to speak.

"Officer Sera Landal," She coughed in his face as smoke filled her lungs. Grime from the air burned her throat with dry intensity. The room grew hotter and Sera put it together. A latent heat tickled her toes as the metal below her warmed beyond comfort. "Sir, decide now. Are we staying or leaving? The building's burning and we'll be caught inside. Decide, Hux. Now!" `

She screamed so loud her throat failed to say anything more. Fog swirled in her mind and she was sure there were suddenly two Generals before her.

General Hux considered her a beat too long. An ornate desk rolled towards them quickly and he pulled Sera out of its flight path, clutching her close to himself, grasping tight at her waist. Sera looked up at the man holding her so close and reveled in the gentle quake of his hands against her skin.

What little she could see of him revealed everything she needed to know about the man. The stoic, furious face didn't match the fear his body portrayed, but it was there, ever so subtly.

"We're leaving," Hux released her but grabbed Sera's wrist and dragged her through the smoked-out halls.

Hell came alive outside Hux's decimated office. Their path was a cacophony of machinery, building, and abandoned personal belongings.

Hux grabbed Sera's wrist so tightly he could feel the pressure of her bones pushing back against her skin.

"Who is still on the base?" Hux kicked a piece of scrap metal to the side and pulled Sera through. She grabbed his uniform to stay in close proximity, terrified her efforts were in vain if she lost him.

"I don't know. Most of my peers were boarding when I ran. I know your ship was still in the hangar when I was there last," Sera coughed again and gripped hard to the material on Hux's arm. Everything was warming but her injuries screamed for her to freeze. "I assume your direct crew and anyone else reckless enough to stay."

"Like yourself?"

"Precisely," Sera pushed Hux forward. "And yourself."

Hux ignored her jab as they rushed them through the burning halls. Heat built behind them with every step. They were racing against a ticking time bomb. But if he measured their pace and estimated steps to the ships correctly, they had a better than fifty percent chance of survival. It was more than enough time if they maintained the back-breaking pace.

Hux was certain they made it through on muscle memory alone. The smoke obstructed their vision ahead to less than a few feet. Every once and awhile they crashed into debris or tripped over the fallen ceiling, but they never slowed.

When the pair made it to the hangar, a single ship remained. Hux's men waited impatiently outside the entrance and jumped into action when the soot-coated pair burst inside.

"Get on the ship, Landal," Hux pushed a hand into her back and shoved her on in front of him, ignoring the confused and relieved comments from his men. He may have been in a dire situation but he heard their whispers about the girl.

Sera's knee shuttered and she heaved herself forward onto the ship. It was sleek and chilly, numbing her skin and bones after the heat from the flames chasing them through the base.

"Track Ren. We're getting him before the planet collapses." Hux grimaced. "If I die, I'm taking him with me." His authoritative voice returned as if it never faltered.

The air filters in the ship began breaking down the smoke that had shrouded them. Sera took a strangled, grasping breath and collapsed on the chilly, metal floor with a cry. Her hands slapped against the flooring and she pushed her head into the cool exterior. It felt like she was drowning in the smoke trapped inside her strained lungs. If it was possible to drown in smoke, it was currently happening.

"Commander Ren is in the forest not far from here, sir," A Stormtrooper yelled from across the room. He looked at his datapad and signaled for the pilot to take off. The pad emitted an eerie red glow on the troopers face.

The ship made a gentle ascent as the building burst into ravenous flames. Their ship jerked with the impact but remained steady in the air.

Sera shook as she flipped onto her back facing the sparkling ceiling. It was nicer than anything she'd flown in the military and she was mucking it up with grime. Her mother would have a coronary if she saw her now.

"Why has nobody seen to Officer Landal's treatment?" Hux stormed past his crew and looked down to confirm Sera was still breathing. "Do it. _Immediately_!"

Hux coughed and pushed away a medic reaching for him. He blinked away the searing pain in his eyes from the clouds of smoke they'd fought through.

Sera's breath caught looking up at him. She was either drunk on smoke or him; Her feverish mind wasn't sure. He held her eye a few more seconds before sweeping past her to the Stormtrooper with Kylo Ren's location in hand.

The discarded medic rushed to her side. She began systematically poking and prodding every inch of her. No sensation flowed between her nerves. All she could do was tip her head back to watch General Hux upside down as he disappeared.

Question after question about her medical history and current ailments followed but she comprehended none. Strained words dribbled from Sera's mouth but the adrenaline still rang in her ears, blocking any noise besides a violent buzzing.

As Sera weaved in and out of consciousness, she felt her body lift from the floor like she was floating. Everything spun and nausea rose in her stomach.

Hux kicked away the medics with a stretcher crowding the scene.

"Sir," The original medic pleaded, pointing desperately to the offered medical bed. "We can't be jostling her around. She may have fractured her tailbone and torn a tendon in her knee."

Sera lay bridal style in Hux's arms, barely registering the happenings around her. The room felt overpowered with a suffocating fog weaving in and out of her like a needle and thread. Hux's fingers were warm on her side and legs. She was freezing even after outrunning a raging fire. Sera turned her head in towards Hux's uniform and her neck cracked every inch she turned. His clothes smelled of smoke and grime, just like her own.

"I will take her to my quarters," Hux called behind him as he walked, limping slightly. "You will treat her there. She will not be in the main dock when we collect Ren. He could slice her in half if he is having a tantrum. I will not allow it."

The slight panic in Hux's voice made Sera wonder if he was about to lose control. It was like his voice twitched. Or was that her own warbling voice?

"Do not attempt to speak," Hux hurried through the halls, trailed by medics and varying medical equipment. The lead nurse shouted rapid instructions to the personnel behind her. Sera thought it sounded like a completely different language.

"If she dies," Hux whispered to the panting nurse at his side once they reached his quarters. His teeth gritted and his voice could barely be heard over the sound of medical equipment booting. "I'll kill you all."

The nursing staff sputtered and looked between Hux and the nearly unconscious woman in his arms.

"Who is she?" The lead medic asked cautiously. "I've never seen you with this woman before." She ran her fingers through the long hair falling over Hux's arms. He wasn't letting go, even with the girl next to the empty bed. Hux clutched her to himself with a raw intensity she'd never seen from him before like he couldn't let go.

"That is an inappropriate question, Lyra," Hux repositioned Sera to place her down on the bed. He scowled when she hissed at the pain in her side.

Sera's head slowly cleared as she laid in the soft, downy bed. Her arms and legs splayed out in every direction and her matted hair clumped under her neck.

Looking up, Hux had already disappeared.

"That man," Doctor Lyra whispered as she dropped medical supplies on the end table beside the bed. She waved over a few others. They began working as Sera fell into darkness.


	2. A Woman Discovered

Sera screamed like ravenous flames still chased her through the crumbling halls of Starkiller as she awoke. She buried her quaking hands in her hair, ripping and tugging until soft ringlets ensnared her fingers, confirming she wasn't stuck in a monstrous nightmare. Instead, it confirmed her gruesome reality, wrought with rupturing planets and sizzling smoke seeping into her lungs, burning her inside out. Sera gasped like her chest still drowned in chalky soot. Acrid smoke and decay tinged her nose. She could feel, smell, and taste the gritty flames that nearly engulfed herself and the General.

A draft ran chills up her bare arms making her clutch the thin blanket closer to herself; Desperately close like its soft thread would soothe the painful memories.

Sera realized her frazzled thoughts and ricocheting temperature must be due to a budding fever. The sticky sweat adhering her skin to the bed was a good indication of her theory. Either she'd contracted something or nursed an unpleasant infection from a wound she'd yet to identify.

Turning over to examine her condition further caused a pinch in her leg. Sera yelped and ripped the covers off her shaking form. A blistering, purple cut stretched from knee to hip. A murky mixture of pus, decaying skin and disintegrated adhesive bandaging decorated her leg. Poking it, Sera hissed and shook her hand out like the contact singed her. The cut sunk down into her skin and slowly filled out again when the pressure subsided. It would need cleaning soon if they hadn't done so already. The wound was so parasitic, it consumed the dressing the medics must have administered. Sera shivered and recovered her lower half with the luxurious blanket.

Sera stretched her arms out before her, feeling the cracks and creaks in her joints. Bits of hair had been scorched from her arms, leaving odd lines of hairless skin. Small burns circled the hairless spots like the blazing rays of a summer sun.

After assessing her injuries, Sera examined her new surroundings, attempting to piece together her location bit by bit. There were no personal items or anything indicating whose room she occupied. It looked like the standard grade officer quarters.

A scan of the room proved no further information. A few doors led to other rooms and an oversized desk sat in the farthest corner. A desk, a closet, a bathroom, and a bed with slightly higher quality linens than normal gave her little insight. Though what she couldn't fathom was why she was in a downy soft bed when she ought to be in a stiff, disinfected medical room. Surely this wasn't the ideal place for her at the moment.

Voices drifted in from the hall and Sera fumbled for a blaster at her waist. Her usual holster was absent. It must have slipped from her side upon evacuation of the base or been confiscated after she lost consciousness. She shivered at the memory of the collapsing planet and her suddenly weaponless form. She was currently in no state to fight without a weapon. For all she knew, her leg wouldn't hold her steady if she attempted to stand.

Logically, there was nothing to fear. She recalled General Hux dragging her through the halls of Starkiller and pushing her on his ship. But everything past his shove on board was a foggy soup of interlocking but seemingly unrelated memories. Clearly, her logic dissipated in moments adrenaline took command; As demonstrated by her idiotic stunt to save the General.

The door slid open and a tall, imposing figure stepped inside.

Sera covered herself further as the General closed the door behind him. He looked like he did every day; Immaculately put together and in control. The way his eyes scanned her made Sera fear he examined the deepest recesses of her mind with nothing but a look.

"Officer," Hux gave her a slight nod and paced slowly towards the desk on the far side of the room.

Sera's discerning eyes traced his every move. Hux maneuvered exactly like the predator she knew he was. Each movement was intentional and controlled. Step after step was identical and methodical.

But there was something somber lingering there too. Dark circles laid waste to the skin under his eyes. His face had paled and veins protruded out from his temple. It told a story of calamity but his uniform did not. He's controlling everything possible, Sera rationalized. Hux could press his uniform and shine his shoes, but nothing could be done for the gaunt, sallow state of his face.

Sleep deprivation and extreme stress was crushing him. But after everything he'd lost, he'd soldiered forward. The cost looked grievous.

"General," Sera ground her teeth, sending shooting pain through her jaw. Her shaking, feverish hands wrapped around herself upon noticing their current physical states. She'd never let a commanding officer see her in so little clothing. The downy cotton shirt and shorts were far less than even her training uniform. Medical necessity seemed an inadequate excuse to put her in such a compromising position. Her pale legs were barely covered and her top was concealed only by a loose fitting shirt that slipped from her shoulders with the smallest provocation. "How do you not look like Hell?"

"I'm well acquainted with Hell," Hux tossed the desk chair to Sera's bedside. He shifted his weight beside it, noticing her attire, and sat stiffly with feet planted on the floor. "Rumor has it there's a throne there just for me."

Sera gawked and Hux merely raised an eyebrow and pulled a datapad from his side. He dragged through profiles, eyes flicking back and forth until he found hers.

"It's been two days," Hux said matter of factly. "You've slept through quite a bit."

"Two days?" Sera gaped. "Why did no one wake me? I can help, do something, do anything!"

"I forbade it," The finality in Hux's tone indicated the acceptance of no further questions.

With Sera in his bed, Hux had spent the past nights in an office made for him on the Supremacy. The couch in the office sufficed because what little sleep he'd gotten was fitful and shallow. There was little time for sleep, food or anything else consuming precious minutes. That's why Hux came undone at the seams upon his research and realization of who Officer Sera Landal really was. He had no time left for anything else, but he couldn't toss away the knowledge now spreading through the ship about Landal's stunt and previously masked heritage. It needed to be quelled before it became larger than it truly was.

"Officer Seraphina Landal," Hux examined her extensive profile detailing her family history, education, and military accomplishments as if he'd never seen it before. "Child of General Landal of the Empire and a wealthy kings' gold-digging daughter. You're royalty. I was not aware."

Pain in Sera's chest struck like a gun had gone off as Hux detailed her fractured familial ties. Her superior officer outlining the depressing details of her life before the First Order slowed her mind and numbed her limbs.

"That was never in my file, I made sure of it," Sera eyed Hux suspiciously. His gaze remained trained on the datapad but his watchful stare searched for any movement out of the corner of his eye. "How did you get this information?"

"I've studied military history since the moment I could read," Hux looked up from the datapad, enjoying the discomfort he administered. "I recognized your surname immediately. How could I not? What I did not expect to find was your mother's surname."

"Of course," Sera shoved her palms into her eyes. Her scorched lids ached from smoke damage they incurred. "You ran my name through the identification system and found pictures of me with my family. They're older, but I don't look all that different. Nobody thought to do it for five years."

Sera swallowed hard, containing the anger and fear of her discovery. She'd hidden in the open for so long but she at least found solace in the fact that it took an obliterated planet and a stupid, high profile stunt to out her.

"I did," Hux smirked, overly pleased with himself at his fascinating discovery. She'd hidden under his nose for years, but not any longer. "Lyra also discovered this in your uniform." Hux flipped a sparkling name badge between his fingers, holding it up to the light. Sera grabbed his wrist and pulled the tag from him.

"It survived the base!" Sera clutched the sparkling tag to her chest. The cool metal was chilly against her warm skin.

"It was your fathers?"

"Yes," Sera pulled the badge from herself, running a thumb over her father's name. Value was relative to a girl running from home. The badge was the only thing of consequence she brought with her when she fled.

"I recognized the uniform badge and General Landal's name," Hux said. "Quite the coincidence, Princess."

Sera merely nodded, lost in her own mind. She placed the pin on the bedside table like it would disappear if left out of site. Only half hearing her previous title from Hux, she blinked away the small bout of anger rising from it.

"I started looking deeper and found every detail and dirty secret I would ever want to know about you," Hux continued, goading her. "First of seven children and previously engaged before joining the military in your early twenties. I didn't take you for a deserter."

Hux looked up casually from his datapad and saw the grimace of a woman discovered. Landal's face contorted and she dug her hands into his sheets like she wished it was his neck.

"Absolved of your domestic and political duties upon your desertion, your younger sister married your previously betrothed in your place. Yet, I find no information indicating you abdicated."

"Hux, stop," Sera heaved the blanket covering herself off the bed. She tossed her legs over the side and hissed as pain rippled through her injured thigh. Hux gazed up at her with interest as she read his datapad upside down. Sera's uncovered knees grazed his and he pulled into the chair slightly, avoiding any contact. It rattled him as much now as it had in his burning office.

Landal appeared so similar and so different outside the confines of Starkiller. She was smaller than he imagined and less domineering. Though the tension in her body and alertness in her eyes pleased him. Even in a state of duress and fever, she was aware and fighting back.

"You have no context," Sera gripped the edge of the bed, turning her knuckles white, digging creases into her palm. Nothing Hux could say would bring her any pleasure. There would be nothing admirable in anything he found about her time with her family. Every article, picture, and personal anecdote would tell the same story: The Princess is odd and uncommitted. A noblewoman with a penchant for war and no desire to fulfill her duty. A deserter.

Sera cocked her head, loathing the General's practiced demeanor from under her searing lids. His back was so still and face so contorted, Sera knew that he was anything but relaxed. A ticking time bomb had a longer fuse than the General dissecting her life in front of her.

"Of course I do," General Hux looked her up and down in return before turning again at the datapad. "It says it all right here." Shivers raced through Sera at the dry intonation in Hux's voice. She ran her hand unconsciously over the affected areas.

"Does it?" Sera reached a careful finger over the datapad. Hux ripped his hand away from her as Sera flipped to the next page.

A picture of herself and her father dominated the screen. It was a photo Sera had never seen and hadn't known was taken. It was at least a decade old guessing from the length of her hair and the absence of the cane her father now used daily.

"I'm very fascinated by you," Hux pushed the back of his hand against Sera's, shoving her finger out of the way, resuming his search of her file.

Sera opened her mouth to speak but the coarseness of her throat stalled her. Instead, she stared at Hux, hoping he'd elaborate.

"An engineer by trade," Hux flicked his finger through page after page of her profile. Pictures of her training, performance evaluations, and general notes passed by her vision. "You have a strong proficiency in hand-to-hand combat. Excellent exam scores and no previous transgressions. You're also wealthier than possibly anybody else on this ship. Why you have reason to be here, I can only assume relates to your broken engagement. But more importantly, you're a woman on the brink of savior who risked her life to save her commanding officer, with whom she'd never once interacted, knowing she would most likely die in the process."

He crossed his legs and tossed the datapad onto the bed, grimacing at her with distrust in his eyes. It felt like a physical burn to Sera. She'd been with the First Order almost half a decade and the general now questioned her loyalty over familial ties she severed years ago.

"Why?" Hux's hands clasped in his lap like he was utterly fascinated with whatever answer she would soon give.

Everything he'd said had been posturing, Sera realized. What he really wanted to know was why she decided to find him on Starkiller. He didn't care a lick about her background. Hux thought she wanted something from him.

Sera deflated. Her bruised shoulders sank forward in shame but she looked at him with poignant disgust she reserved only for her previous fiance.

Sera's returned look of suspicion wasn't missed by Hux. Watching the curl of Sera's lips, he readjusted in his seat. He hadn't associated with many women in his life. And this one was barely clothed and watching him in a way nobody else would; Like she saw exactly who he was and had no qualms about expressing it.

"I don't know, Sir," Sera met his challenge eye for eye, willing him to understand she harbored no premeditated scheme or expectations of him. Her mouth twitched and nose wrinkled as she strained to maintain a neutral stare.

"You do," Hux growled, tired of being evaded. "Tell me." He demanded with a force that shouldn't have taken her by surprise.

Sera shook her head. Hux spoke to everybody the way he did to her now. The shattered but honest man from Starkiller had disappeared. It was the only Hux Sera knew and she wasn't fond of his current blatant intimidation tactics. Such antics were sullied by the image of him from Starkiller in her mind's eye. This may be the man to everybody around them; The pions guarding the ship, officers running tests, medics recovering wounded and dead. But this could never be the man she knew. Sera wouldn't let it be.

After a contemplative moment, Hux leaned in so close Sera felt his warm, rhythmic breath on her face. The closer he came, the weaker she grew. As if her body comprised solely of muscle and lead, dragging her down into the ocean like an anchor cast at sea. Her eyes flicked between his and she saw something there that made her retreat. She leaned back enough that his breath couldn't touch her reddening skin.

"I realized you were trying to kill yourself," Sera looked right into his eyes for confirmation of her claim. She found it. Hux's face transitioned between multiple looks of disgust. "I've heard you say it before."

Hux stood so suddenly the chair tipped back onto the ground. It landed with a crash that echoed through the spacious room. Beats passed in silence with only harsh breaths and an unidentifiable electricity to fill it.

The shockwaves in the air sobered Sera. Looking up at Hux once again, she remembered exactly who and where they were. Everything about their situation was inappropriate and it emboldened her.

Weak knees held Sera as she pushed herself from the bed. Her ankles quaked but adequately supported her weight. At least enough to move to the General's side.

"Heard what, exactly, Officer?" Hux reverted to titles as she gazed up at him keenly like she was reliving something in her head. He looked down at her and frowned, hands clasped behind his back.

"You said you'd rather die than fail," Sera whispered. "I never believed it was an exaggeration. I couldn't let you throw it all away."

Hux brought a hand to her face and shoved a finger under her chin. Forcing her stare, he examined her angled face. It wasn't common he had a woman in his quarters and even less common that she looked back at him like that. Landal was clearly proud and gritty. It shone brightly in the set of her jaw and defiant stare. She wasn't giving in and she wouldn't back down. Breaking her crossed his mind, but their current location and her state of undress were throwing him more than he'd comfortably admit. Her shirt had slipped when she stood and Hux implored himself to focus solely on her face.

"You listen in on my conversations, Officer?" Hux smirked down at her, dragged his leather-clad thumb slowly over her chin.

"Only when they're interesting," She offered conversationally like they were talking about the weather. "Most of your conversations are so boring I want to impale myself with Ren's stupid death stick."

"Stupid," Hux enunciated the word, mulling it over. "Death stick."

He suddenly clenched her jaw with his hand and her eyes widened. He'd successfully flustered her. Forcing Sera's head to the side he looked from ear to neck to bare shoulders. He probably would have continued if she hadn't smacked his hand away.

Hux seemed wholly unaffected by her sudden movement and simply replaced his hand behind his back.

Sera shuddered under his gaze and stepped away. Her face tingled as she stormed to the door, desperate to get away. She slammed her hand against the exit button and found herself face to face with Kylo Ren.

She leaped back, landing hard on her injured leg. His sleek lightsaber hilt gleamed in the harsh hall lighting, making it come alive. It felt dangerous standing so close to the weapon.

Ren's face was no longer obstructed by the glistening mask Sera had come to anticipate. A brilliant, fresh cut burned through the length of his youthful face. It was patched expertly by webbed material, closing the wound. But it looked serious coursing down his face and onto his shoulders.

Ren was young, probably not far off in age from herself. He stood tall and proud but the look in his eye showed a story of hurt and anger. No intimidating helmet or well constructed robe could hide what lay in front of her.

A sudden pain bubbled in her head. Sera grabbed the back of her skull and flinched away from Ren's imposing figure. Images of herself, her family, and her time in the military flashed by. Each shot hurt more than the last until they landed on the most painful memory of all; Sera staring desperately at General Hux on the floor of his collapsing office.

"Get out of her head, Ren," General Hux was at Sera's side before Kylo could do something irreparably stupid. He grabbed her arm and stepped ever so slightly in front of her, blocking her from Ren.

The connection shattered and Sera's knees quaked from exhaustion. A throbbing head could now be added to her laundry list of sudden ailments. Clearly, she'd cheated death and the galaxy yearned to punish her.

"What do you want, Ren?" Hux stepped fully in front of Sera. "Come to throw another tantrum? If you are, kindly do so outside my quarters."

"I came to talk to your - friend," Ren leaned over Hux's shoulder to look down knowingly at Sera. Her chest heaved between the contact with Hux and the stare of the recently mutilated Ren. Hux had a hand wrapped around her wrist, holding her in place or she would have stepped back farther. Fury and hatred emanated from Ren. She was unsure of whom it was directed but she had no interest in learning.

"As much as it pains me to deny you anything," Hux stepped close to Ren. Their comparable heights lent well to the ominous and strained nature of their conversation. "No."

Sera watched in fascination. She couldn't recall seeing the two interact so informally and it was incredibly informative. Also, destructive rampages were a sizzling topic of gossip and a sick part of Sera hoped she would see one with her own eyes. She doubted real harm would come to her with Hux present. But the blistering pain in Ren's eyes made her heart race with anticipation. A sort of emptiness filled his gaze like he had nothing left to lose. Exactly the type of person to tear apart the ship she was currently on.

"Forget it," Ren took a step back from Hux but maintained a careful focus. "Leader Snoke's requested us in a quarter hour."

Sera bent down to slip past Ren out of the room, believing this was her chance to escape. Leaving while Hux spoke with the elusive Supreme Leader Snoke that so few had ever seen was perfect. Her plan collapsed when an arm shot out and pulled her back inside.

Hux.

"I will meet you in a moment to speak with Lead-"

"He wants her to join us," Ren pointed a gloved finger at Sera's face.

"To what end?" Hux swallowed and again stepped in front of Sera. He couldn't remember such a low ranking official entering Leader Snoke's throne room. Never before had Supreme Leader made such an odd request. Snoke already knew of his transgressions on Starkiller and had handled them. Landal was inconsequential; A side issue that Snoke certainly need not concern himself with.

Ren only smirked and Hux slammed his hand on the door lock in protest. The entrance sealed in Ren's face with a hiss and thud. Hux pulled Sera towards the bed and pointed. "Sit."

"Sir," Sera said warily. Her shoulders slacked and she dragged her feet towards the bed. Ren in her head left a fractured and foggy feeling. Like the room was a mirage. "Please don't say this is regarding what happened on Starkiller."

"I see no other possibility," Hux pulled the discarded chair from the floor and sat before Landal. Her legs were crossed, revealing the extent of her thigh injury. He sat and leaned in close to ensure she understood every word. "You can hide nothing from him. Do not attempt to. It will not end favorably for you."

"You're telling me I have to explain it to him?"

"In a sense, yes," Hux agreed.


	3. An Opulent Prison

Sera's recently pressed uniform clung tight to her feverish form. The material was engineered to maintain heat, not expel it. It was doing a phenomenal job. Sharp creases on the pant legs gave a sense of normalcy, downplaying the chaotic feelings in Sera's heart and mind. It was comfortable and constricting simultaneously. The shimmering buttons caught the light like diamonds in the sun. And the modest design did an excellent job masking her burn marks and cuts. Only her scratched face and hands showed any sign of duress. Everything else was business as usual.

Hux had ordered a proper uniform be brought for Sera before presenting her to Snoke and Sera was beholden to him for it. It seemed the General cared more for image than Sera would have imagined. It wouldn't do for Snoke to see her in any light but utterly professional.

Her wounds had been cleaned and redressed before they set off on their trek across the Supremacy. Dr. Lyra had come and gone, making no conversation with Sera, only referring to Hux with questions. She'd worked hurriedly, agitated with Hux's insistence she moved fast enough that they could make it to Snoke in his desired time frame of fifteen minutes.

Rushing Stormtroopers and Officers littered the halls as they passed. Sera stood tall beside Hux, internalizing the inquiry in the eyes of the people beside them. She watched as they moved, some limping, others bandaged from head to toe. Nobody seemed to have come out unscathed.

The passersby slowed to a halt and whispered in hurried tones between themselves. Occasionally, Sera understood a word here and there, the most prominent being her own name and the Generals'.

"You're famous, Princess," Hux bent forward to hiss in Sera's ear. The rush of air tickled her neck and she flinched enough to make him pull away.

"I think you mean infamous," Sera's head shot back to look at an Officer she vaguely recognized who'd whispered a nasty epithet followed by 'Princess.' The Officer's eyes bulged upon realizing he'd been caught and scurried away like the rat he was.

"Perhaps," Hux said.

They were silent the rest of the trek. Ignoring the passing chatter was arduous when the only other sounds were whirring engines and clacking boots on the sparkling floor, exacerbated in the suffocating silence.

It felt chillier on the Supremacy than it had on Starkiller. Even though the destroyed base consisted of stifling cold, nothing matched the frigidity in the air on this ship.

Sera counted each grueling step to reach Supreme Leader Snoke. One thousand, eight hundred and forty-two. It occupied her time and pulled her mind from the cloaked Kylo Ren in front and the stiff General Hux to her rear.

It could be acute paranoia, but her instinct was that they had been holding her in the Officer's quarters, sequestering her from the other members of the ship. Obviously, something had happened between the time she blacked out and the moment she found herself in currently. The General had wanted her isolated from the other injured in the medbay. Whether that was for her own good or others, she wasn't sure.

"Wait here," General Hux stepped in front of Sera and held up his hand. Nearly running right into his palm, Sera froze centimeters from his hand. "Watch her." Hux pointed to an alert band of Stormtroopers who nodded their agreement. The Trooper's hands shot to their blaster and Sera grimaced.

Hux and Ren heaved open an enormous black, metal door. Sera peeked in between them and glimpsed an over sized red room and the hints of a massive throne before the doors were shut again.

Sera waited alone with the lifeless Stormtroopers. There were seven. Taking them out would be difficult if it became necessary. Especially since they all carried weapons and all she had was her injured body and the cotton fabric of her standard issue uniform.

Testing her luck, Sera circled the room like a wolf stalking her prey. The Troopers' masks slowly followed her path. They each wore the basic white armor but were upgraded to the red shoulder plates of the elite. All were somewhere between five and a half and six feet. Sera surmised she could slip under their legs. But with seven, one was bound to catch her.

"Stop," A Trooper closest to her pointed his blaster at her chest. "Sit down."

"No," Sera stopped in place and raised her arms to soften her rejection of his order. Her muscles creaked at the effort. In no situation did she answer to foot soldiers. Plus, sitting would put herself at a disadvantage if this came to blows.

"Stop moving and sit," The pushy Stormtrooper shoved the barrel of his blaster into her chest. Sera ground her teeth and reached for the barrel, gripping it with both hands.

"If you come closer," Sera pushed herself into the barrel and the Trooper fell back a step. "I'll take your gun and shove it up your-"

"Remove your gun," The tallest Trooper interjected, placing a hand on the offending soldier's shoulder. "General Hux said not to harm her."

"I'm not harming her," He replied. "My gun is."

Sera shoved the barrel away and the Trooper went tumbling with his weapon. He stumbled before regaining his footing. One of his cohorts grabbed him around the waist as he fought to get at Sera. She stood still, tense, pushing her hands out in front of her, indicating she meant no harm.

The other Troopers raised their guns forty-five degrees but made no other move against her.

"I'm just waiting," Sera assured them. "I'm not interested in fighting you or anybody else in this hallway." She directed her comment to the seemingly Commanding Officer. Hopefully, he had enough sway over the others to quell the tension. Apparently, her rank over them was dissolved since their orders came directly from Hux.

"It's not like you'd win," A burly Trooper in the back scoffed at her assessment of the situation.

"Probably not," Sera agreed. "But I wouldn't make it easy."

"You insolent little-"

"Stop!" The commanding Stormtrooper held his hands between Sera and his group, forming a barrier. His voice was grizzly and distorted behind his mask. "We're not fighting her. I'm not dealing with the wrath of Hux because you're a trigger-happy idiot. I won't die over some child."

"You're lucky the General's got some weird fascination with you," The original corralled Trooper called from his place locked in his peers grasp. "We don't like defectors around here in case you haven't noticed."

"How do you know that?" Sera whispered, teeth bared. "What's my title?" She hoped they would say Officer, but she knew it was unlikely.

"Princess Sera Landal," The lead Trooper said, deadpan. "Apparently there are political reasons we can't maim you. I don't really see what that matters out in the middle of nowhere."

"Wrong," Sera dropped her hands to her side. "You have no idea what's going on." Though she hadn't a clue what was actually happening, she refused to give these men any sense of accomplishment or belief that they knew more about her current situation than she did herself.

"Officer," Hux pulled open the doors and called to her. "Come here."

Sera's throat constricted at the sight of him. He looked positively rabid like he thought she was the dirt under his expertly polished shoes.

Hux moved aside as Sera stepped inside.

The throne room was a glorified, opulent prison. Menacing, hooded guards wielding electrified weapons encircled the room. Their eyes were hidden but Sera felt their watchful gaze.

After a scan of the room, Sera rose her head to stare into the distorted face of Supreme Leader Snoke. Vicious scars decorated his decrepit face, obscuring the features which looked to once have been a man. A deep indent on his scalp drew most of her attention. It looked like somebody had once lodged a weapon in his skull and the blunt damage was irreversible.

The elegant clothing didn't match the man it covered. Gold detailing in his robes refracted light through the room, pulling the gaze dead center at the throne, directly to him. It was far too luxurious and refined for a mangled man with no shoes.

By some act of karma, Hux and Ren were no longer the most terrifying entities in the room. For a snap second, Sera wondered how high the chain of command really went. She'd never paid much attention to the influence of Supreme Leader Snoke. She'd never seen him and only ever heard his name on the lips of a select few. Hux and Ren were present every day; Intimidating and leading simultaneously. Snoke was almost mythical.

Hux strode directly behind Sera with a hand ever so slightly in front of him to push her further if she froze at the site of Snoke. He grabbed her wrist and edged her along. Eyes trained forward, Hux steered Sera towards the center of the room, directly before Supreme Leader. Her fingers quaked and he held them still before dropping his grip and stepping away, abandoning Sera in the pool of red and gold.

"Come here, child," Snoke's long, spindly fingers motioned for Sera to move closer. Teeth clenched, legs shaking, Sera trained her focus on Snoke's hands, "Look at me." He commanded.

Sera's head flew up to meet his glassy, inhuman eyes. Eons lived in his sharp stare. He was not a young man by any stretch.

And then there was pain. Blistering, searing, white-hot agony. Sera's veins rippled under her skin. Her heart tore in half. Memories old and new flashed by so quickly it made her dizzy. Many didn't even feel to be her own. Watching from a distance, she saw herself, detached from the darkest moments of her life.

And then it stopped.

Sera toppled forward onto her knees, unable to sustain her weight. The pain, both physical and emotional, utterly drained her. A crack echoed through the room as her kneecaps hit the tiled floor, bringing tears to her eyes.

Ren perusing her mind had been Sunday Brunch compared to Snoke's assault on every facet of her being. While Ren had caused pain, it hadn't felt evil and all-consuming.

"You're attached to him," Leader Snoke tsked. "But don't fret. It won't last long. You are nothing to the General but a distraction."

Sera shook as she looked up from the floor. Her gaze lingered on Snoke, piercing, begging to see inside his mind the way he did hers. Attached didn't feel like the correct word in her opinion but Sera made no mention of it. Muddled by the stress of Snoke's probing, Sera forced herself to focus; Attempting to bring herself back to the present moment.

Snoke simply laughed.

"Your actions on Starkiller were commendable, certainly," Snoke's voice engulfed the room, projected a hopelessness from which Sera was not immune. It seeped into the porous makeup of her bones like lava in rock. Fighting was useless. Molten heat eroded rock just as Snoke's hopelessness corroded her heart. "But that is done and we now move forward. Thankfully, your misery ends soon. The General has no time to tend to a lowly ranked, exiled Princess."

Instead of looking to Snoke, Sera swung her head to the side, landing on General Hux. Her hair fell over her eyes but she could see him well enough through the interlocking tendrils of her wild hair. Hux stood tall, hands clasped behind his back, face forwards towards Snoke. His eyes never wavered.

"I've seen how little he thinks of you," Snoke's raspy voice made his words sting deeper. "A deserter. A reckless child." His echoing voice ricocheted off the walls and lingered in the air long after he'd gone silent.

"Then why bother?" Sera pushed herself up on shaking arms. Coherent thought was returning but the bile in her throat wasn't dissipating. "Why make General Hux drag me to you to say what he's already made clear to me?"

Snoke stood from the throne, stepping carefully down to the floor. His guard moved closer with every step he made. Sera wondered if they had orders to remain within a certain distance of Snoke at all times.

"You've meddled in affairs that were not your concern. You've distracted the General. You've made your political status known in a grand gesture that's captivated and diverted your peers from their work. You're dangerous if left unchecked." He spoke as if what he said was obvious to anybody intelligent enough to see it.

"I'll take responsibility for my failures," Sera's voice wavered and cracked. "But I've spoken with none of my peers since I've woken. I've had no time. The General locked me in a room. I'm unsure of what I've done to the people I've not spoken to."

"Officer!" Supreme Leader stepped before her, towering over her quaking form. She looked to the side, away from his decaying, naked feet. "There's not a single person in this fleet who doesn't know what transpired and who you are."

"I've spoken to no one."

Sera's throat constricted, making the words come out in a strangled cry. Her windpipes were collapsing like trees in an avalanche. What did everybody else know that she had yet to understand?

Snoke's open palm turned as he choked her, watching her reaction.

"Our agreement, Supreme Leader," Hux stepped to Sera's side as she grasped at her throat. Snoke ripped his hand away.

Air flooded Sera's lungs and she collapsed at Snoke's feet. She rolled on her back and ran her quivering hands over her throat as if she didn't believe she could breathe again. It was a pain unlike anything she'd ever experienced.

"Keep her in line or rid yourself of her," Snoke waved his hand and turned back towards his throne. "Do whatever you must."

Sera looked up at Hux. He appeared tall as a tower standing above her.

"Ren," Snoke said as he sat back on his throne. "Remain."

"Of course," Ren nodded and began the journey from the doors to the throne. He passed Sera and Hux. The two men shared a mutual scowl as they crossed hairs.

Hux nudged Sera with his foot and she scowled up at him. Clearly, he was making no move to help her up from the floor. Red wetness stained her pant leg and she grimaced. The wound had opened again.

Sera used her fully functioning leg to stand. Her bones ached and her head pounded so desperately against her temple, veins were thumbing, pushing out to her skin. Serious medical attention was in her future and she certainly wouldn't be doing it from the same location as before. Medbay was the next stop as soon as she was free of Hux.

The General looked no worse for wear after their meeting. Sera realized he must experience Snoke on a regular basis. She doubted what happened today was an anomaly. Though she also doubted Supreme Leader would treat his Generals the way he did her. It appeared easier to lose an expendable Officer than an invaluable leader.

Sera hurried after Hux who had turned to leave the moment she stood.

When they reached the hall, the Stormtroopers stood at attention, back into proper formation since she'd left. Sera shook her head at them as she passed. Their faces were blocked from sight, but she knew they were pleased with her newly battered form. At least somebody had done what they wanted to.

She wasn't sure where they were headed but she followed Hux nonetheless.

"What did I just experience, Hux?" Sera's voice sounded far away and desperate. The trauma of what occurred was setting in. Not only the weight of Snoke's interrogation made torture but Starkiller too. The memories were rushing back and Sera feared it was Snoke who'd made her remember so vividly.

"General Hux or sir."

"Fine, General Hux," Sera huffed and puffed as they rushed through the halls. The stress and pain of the day weighed hard on her but she wouldn't collapse in front of Hux. "We almost died and this what you do to me? This is how you speak to me?"

Hux stopped dead in his tracks and made a rushed about turn. Sera skidded up to his chest and stumbled back a step to make room between them.

"It's my understanding that I am your Commanding Officer," Hux's face set into a deep scowl. "I will speak to you how I see fit."

"Would you at least explain this to me?"

"There's nothing to explain," Hux seemed to take her comment literally. "Supreme Leader is correct. You are a distraction I cannot entertain at the moment."

Pushing him seemed like an unreasonable decision and Sera wasn't certain she was in any place to fully understand what he would say to her.

"Then I have no further comments, General," Sera's lips flatlined. Little use Hux would be in understanding what exactly was happening and how it involved her. She'd made no comment about her lineage to anybody in the First Order, ever. All she could image would be mumbling in her sleep during a feverish haze. Though that would require Hux at her bedside, which Sera deemed highly unlikely.

"Excellent. And, Officer Landal," Hux said. "One thing before you go." Hux gripped her hand, securing her in place. He pulled her close like he'd done on Starkiller; Dropping his head to meet her at eye level.

"Yes?" Sera's voice wavered. Chills ran up her arm where Hux held her tight.

"Did you mean what you said on Starkiller about your Commander being a coward?" Hux sounded casual, practiced in his delivery, but Sera noticed a twinge of something more.

"Not anymore," Sera stretched her fingers from palm to nail, testing to see if Hux would drop her hand. He didn't.

"Excellent-."

"He's worse," Sera hissed. "He's a pawn."

"I have been called worse by better," Hux dropped her hand.

"I think-"

"And that is your obstacle," Hux pulled Sera's father's name badge from a pocket in his uniform. The gold reflected in the harsh lighting as Sera pulled it from him and secured it in her own uniform. "You are not employed to think. When I say run, you run. When I say stop, you stop. And when I say there is nothing left to explain, you accept it as gospel and keep your mouth shut. I am sure your opinion matters in some far-off star system, but it means nothing to me. You will return to your work and seek additional medical treatment as needed for your wounds. You will not utter a word about what transpired on Starkiller, you will not remind anyone of who you are, and most crucial of all, you will stay out of my business in the future unless specifically invited."

"Of course, General," Sera ran her hand over the pocket her father's tag was now in, ensuring it was still there. It would never leave her sight again lest another tragedy like Starkiller stuck.

"I almost forgot," Hux clasped his hands behind his back but leaned in once more. "I consider us even."

"What?" Sera looked from Hux to the people watching them. None of the passersby looked on directly. Instead, they watched from the corner of their eyes, fascinated with the odd interaction between Hux and Sera.

"Snoke wanted to dispose of you," Hux whispered into her hair. "I dissuaded him; Convinced him you were meagerly valuable."

"To what end?" Sera tossed his own words back at him. His chest was on her own and his breath in his hair made her tense. The heat felt worse this time and she wished he would just grab her hand again and be done with it. Instead, he was right up against her, attempting to intimidate her.

"I may be a pawn, but I am not the only one," Hux pulled away and smirked, satisfied with something Sera could only assume was his penchant for terrorizing her. "We all suffer and we all bear it."

"You're sadistic, Sir," Sera grit her teeth, forcing his title.

"Yes," Hux said. "I never claimed not to be."

"This conversation has been illuminating," Sera ran a hand over her bleeding leg. It came back red and she resisted the urge to rub it over Hux's impeccable uniform. "I'm going to get this treated."

Hux only nodded and Sera stumbled down the hall, eager to get away. She assumed she'd be watched from now on. Unsure of who it would be or how many, she vowed to keep an eye out for anybody who could be supplying Hux with information.

Sera stopped to ask a few stunned officers where she could find Dr. Lyra. They pointed her in the correct direction, wide-eyed and stuttering.

She paid no mind to the drops of blood staining the floor as she moved through the halls. Somebody would clean it up eventually.

By the time Sera found medbay, her legs quaked and she stumbled into the glass doors of the facility. It wasn't graceful, but she paid no mind in her current situation.

The glass doors flew open and Sera toppled into a white, sterile hallway.

"I thought you'd be coming," Dr. Lyra pursed her lips, not making eye contact with Sera. "Follow me, please."


	4. Cupcakes and Constellations

"Are you seeking medical treatment," Dr. Lyra stood taller than Sera, looking down at her like she was unaware they'd ever encountered one another. Her dark hair twisted at the base of her neck and her uniform pressed peaks into the crease of her pants. Sparkling buttons securing her blouse at her wrists, giving credence to her authority. Dr. Lyra exacted control in everything from her stance to the way she raised an inquisitive brow.

"Yes," Sera stumbled after Dr. Lyra as she turned to head down the hall. Her shoes clicked hard against the linoleum floor. How she could stand working long shifts in heels and restricting clothing reminded Sera of her demanding mother and flawless sister. The pair did the same. It was a skill Sera couldn't master.

Sera looked back at the shrinking entrance of medbay. A gory trail of blood traced every step she'd made along the way. The entire space smelled of saline, alcohol, and the bitter twang of fresh blood. "I'm sure you're pleased I ruined your handiwork."

A curt puff of air was the response. Dr. Lyra ripped a clipboard from the wall and dragged her finger down an indecipherable chart. Nodding, she motion for Sera to follow.

Sera ignored her shock and busied herself observing the passing rooms. Most consisted of two bedridden people, separated by a flimsy, discolored sheet hanging from aged hooks. The First Order dismantled privacy with so many people injured. Everybody enjoyed the sounds and sites of their mutilated compatriots. Or Dr. Lyra enjoyed causing discomfort. The act she put on for Sera made it appear likely.

"In here, please," Dr. Lyra spun on her heels, pointing in a corner room. The dull colored space sat farthest from the rest of the ward. "I'll see you in just a minute. Don't disturb the other guests while you wait."

Her room was larger than the others she'd seen and the area was quieter. The rooms encircling her little spot in Hell were empty and deathly silent.

Medics walked past, eyeing her. And there was only one reason that would be. There were far more interesting things in a medical ward than her battered form.

Sera turned to face a nosy medic who'd stopped dead in the busy hallway. Her scrubs were grubbier than Dr. Lyra's. Streaks of dried blood splattered the front and a pair of latex gloves hung from a front pocket.

"Yes?" Sera crossed her arms.

The woman squeaked. Crouching down low, getting out of view, the woman turned and hurried the direction from which she'd come.

Sera turned back to her assigned room and stepped under the sturdy wooden door frame. She used it to hold herself up.

A peculiar looking man about her age populated the bed closest to the door. With every other room in the vicinity vacant, this man could have a single purpose.

Breathing softly, his eyes fluttered and he turned on his side, facing Sera. The covers obstructed his body but Sera saw black under the flimsy white linens. He wore a uniform instead of a medical gown.

His finger twitched and Sera sighed.

"You don't need to pretend you're asleep," Sera stood at the foot of his bed, warm blood dripping down on the floor. It slid down her leg like rain in a gutter, tickling her shin on its way to its destination.

 _Good_. Let Dr. Lyra clean it up.

The bar on the edge of the bed was chilly when Sera gripped it for support. Pain was creeping north from the leg wound. Her hips ached and pangs of discomfort slipped through her core muscles.

The man popped one eye open and smiled. "You're not as easy to fool as I'd hoped."

He stretched his arms wide and gave an over exaggerated yawn. Bits of disheveled hair stuck out in a dozen directions and smudges of dirt painted his cheeks.

Everything about the man screamed disinterest. Odd, considering he lay in a busy medical facility.

Loud machines beeped and medics walked by, focused on their given task. Finally, they ignored Sera. It was harder to ogle when she wasn't parading through the halls. Droids buzzed past carrying various instruments and forms. But most potent in Sera's mind were the moans of pain from rooms down the hall filling the silence.

"I figured you were my official minder considering your non-medical attire," Sera motioned up and down his bed.

He looked down at himself and shrugged.

"I accept your valid critique of my lackluster disguise." He mumbled to himself about being stupid enough to forget to switch into a medical gown to play the role.

The man seemed to have lost interest in Sera and it broke her focus. She examined the sterile room instead, ignoring her odd roommate.

Various silver instruments decorated the pristine space. Some were pointy and ribbed, some blunt and slick, and all Sera hoped wouldn't get near her.

The over sized medical bed called to her like a lighthouse in the night. Her legs quaked and her mind filled with static. But her attention diverted to the colossal window on the other side of the room.

Deep blues and sparkling golds tinted the universe outside her room. Small ships whizzed by at breakneck speed, covering stars in their wake. Sera stood enthralled. It had been years since she'd seen the wilds of space; It both tightened her lungs and quickened her pulse.

"I'll bet you even guessed I'm not really injured," The man drew Sera's attention again, coming back to the conversation he had partaken in with himself.

She spun and hissed at the tearing feeling in her leg. Sera's knees felt like buckling under her but she locked them tight, forcing herself to stay alert until she understood who this man was. Though the crushing pain was getting the best of her. Her body ached from temple to toes. And her mind transitioned from vigilant to ineffective and back by the second.

"What good would an injured man be if I tried to make a run for it," Sera ripped the thin curtain to the side and sat down on her bed, facing the man in the other side of the room. "Hux is smarter than that."

She pulled her injured leg on the bed, shoving a pillow under her knee for extra support. Red immediately seeped from her uniform like a squeezed sponge, staining the immaculate white linens.

When the sting in her leg dulled, Sera patted the space, searching for the remote that controlled the bed. Lodged deep in the stainless steel safety bars and mattress was an over sized controller. Fiddling with the settings, Sera brought the back of the bed to a sitting position so she could give her full attention to General Hux's terrible spy.

"He is indeed," The man smiled his toothy grin like he enjoyed sitting in a medical ward with her. His feet moved to a beat in his head. "So, Officer Sera Landal, Princess of far off galaxies, and savior of the First Order's General Golden Boy, what wild stories have you got for me? I've been waiting all day for you. The least you could do is entertain me."

Sera scoffed. "I won't make it that easy on you." She watched the man's feet move in time with some march he now hummed. He seemed unperturbed by her pithy response.

"I didn't think so," He fiddled with something under the sheets and revealed an old fashioned gun at his side. It glistened in the harsh lighting on the ward.

Sera's eyes widened and she pushed herself farther into her bed. She grabbed a sharp tool and pointed it at him threateningly.

"I have excellent accuracy," Sera brandished it in his face.

He chuckled and waved away her concerns. Rounds fell from the gun's holster as he emptied it on the floor. He put the barrel over his eye and toggled the trigger a few times for good measure. After a final examination, he discarded the gun with a flick of his wrist. It landed in the hall with a clatter and somebody shrieked.

The medical torture tool dropped from Sera's hand and her mouth fell wide, unsure what to make of the man pointing a gun in his own face and tossing it away like trash.

"I'm Orienn," He gave Sera a casual, two finger salute. "And I promise I'm not here to assassinate you."

"Well that's good to hear," Sera leaned forward in bed, gazing into the hall. A medic with gloved hands dangled the gun in her fingers, disgusted. "I don't think Dr. Lyra will appreciate that."

"Dr. Lyra can rip the massive stick out of her ass," Orienn said. "That woman wanted me to strap you down on the bed until she could give you more of that sleep serum shit. She's not going to be happy when she sees we're best friends now."

"Sleep serum shit?" Sera grabbed the covers of the bed. That woman drugged her for two days on Hux's order?

Ignoring the best friends comment, Sera focused on every movement and inflection in Orienn's voice. Fog still clouded her mind and she pushed herself to focus as Orienn wobbled in her vision.

"Yeah," Orienn reached into his pocket and pulled a sparkling knife. Intricate designs were lazer cut into the blade. It looked like a language Sera recognized but couldn't read a word of. "She may have given you a bit more than Hux requested. He just wanted you to sleep off the fever but that woman is incorrigible. Can't stand seeing Hux the way he's been the past few days."

"I don't understand any of what you just said," Sera admitted. Either this man was brilliant or crazy and Sera was keen on discovering which. Regardless in which category he fell, he had direct access to Hux. It was uncommon to speak of him as familiarly as he did. Orienn seemed to understand what was going on while she slept for two days. And watching her was a more serious task to Hux than Sera had imagined.

"Let's put it this way," Orienn dropped the knife on the small table at his side. It dislodged the medical tools and they bounced to the floor. He shrugged and continued. "Dr. Lyra's got it bad but Hux has got it worse."

"That makes even less sense," Sera knocked her head against the mushy pillows on the headboard. "Do you always speak in riddles or can you just tell me what's going on before Dr. Lyra comes back and drugs me into submission?"

"Alright, cupcake," Orienn threw his legs over the side of his bed and came to lounge on Sera's. He was at home in the bed of a woman he met two minutes ago. Sera wondered if this was a common occurrence for him. "Just because you're royalty and I like ya."

"Please don't mention my title," Sera dragged her injured leg from where Orienn sat.

He reclined at the foot of her bed. But she wasn't positive he'd ceased pulling assortments of weapons from hidden orifices.

"Cupcake?" Orienn winked, tossing a foot over his knee.

Sera smiled behind her parched lips. This man was a welcome respite from General Hux and Dr. Lyra. He didn't appear to want to cause her any immediate harm.

"Don't let Hux see you smiling at me," Orienn clapped his hands together. The sound rebounded through the room and stung Sera's ears. "He'll kick me off this job."

"Just talk, starboy," Sera glanced to the door, hoping they weren't overheard. If Sera could hear the moans of patients and clicking of medical devices in other rooms, people could pick up their voices. But she may not receive another chance to hear this story from somebody directly under Hux.

"How unique. Never heard that one before," Orienn rolled his eyes. "It's not even spelled the same way so lock that away in your mind to use at a later time."

Sera cocked her head at the tranquil man before her. Orienn was either testing her or he was a jovial loudmouth.

The top few buttons of his uniform hung by threads. His name badge was askew and his rank patch sewn incorrectly. He also wore two different colored socks.

Orienn befuddled Sera. How this man had come to work for Hux was a complete mystery to her. Hux embodied perfection in himself and his appearance. Orienn did not.

"Anyway," Orienn waved away Sera's discerning look. "When you and Hux stormed into the hangar on Starkiller all banged up and huddled together - well - people talk, you know?"

"And?" Sera didn't care for baseless rumors from subordinates. All she wanted was information on how her title came to light. Some slanderous but inconsequential Stormtroopers could say whatever they wanted of her and Hux. But her leaked title, that was critical information.

" _And_ ," Orienn emphasized the word. "Dr. Lyra got this idea stuck in her head that there was something else happening there."

"Wonderful," Sera covered her eyes with her palms, attempting to push the haziness from her thoughts.

"Oh, but it gets better," Orienn flicked dust bunnies from the linens. "Well, Hux may have let it slip he learned who you were when he and Dr. Lyra were in the room with you passed out after her unnecessary dosage of the sleep stuff. Or more likely he told her intentionally, to make sure she didn't harm you."

"What would Dr. Lyra gain by harming me?" Sera scowled and looked again to the door. It swung on its hinges. Hopefully the air filtration system caused the movement instead of a person peeping. "I got the feeling she doesn't like me but I just assumed she doesn't like anybody."

"Oh she likes someone," Orienn nodded and fell off into thought. He looked to the window before turning back to Sera with a mischievous glow. "Hux refused to leave your side until we got to the Supremacy. Lyra diagnosed it as shock - the idiot. Then Snoke got wind of it all and put an end to it. It wasn't pretty for Hux. But Lyra saw it all. She has her own ideas and loose lips-,"

"What?" Sera hissed. The hall outside went silent. All the lingering sound had disappeared. "How do you know this? Who are you?"

"I'm Orienn," He frowned. "Didn't I tell you that already?"

"Orienn," Dr. Lyra stormed into the room. Her uniform was displaced and she looked exasperated. "Get out. You're disrupting the patient and causing a disturbance across the ward."

"No can do ma'am," Orienn crossed his arms and leaned back farther on the bed. "I've got strict instructions not to leave cupcake's side."

"Oh," Dr. Lyra looked between the two people sharing the bed like lifelong companions. "You have a pet name for the Princess now. It seems everybody is fond of her nowadays."

"I request you refer to me as Officer," Sera watched Dr. Lyra meet her eyes for the first time. The caustic look running rampant in her gaze made Sera hell-bent on defending herself against whatever this woman wanted to throw at her. Dr. Lyra's relationship with Hux was not Sera's concern. But she was out for Sera regardless; Like Sera had any bearing on the Doctor's affiliation with Hux.

"I prefer utilizing proper titles," Dr. Lyra ripped latex gloves from a box in the wall and snapped them against her wrist.

"And I would prefer a medical professional who doesn't drug me unnecessarily and wants me restrained for no reason whatsoever," Sera hissed. "Who else is available?"

"I'm the most senior medic on this ship," Dr. Lyra stopped what she was doing and crossed her arms. "My professional opinion was exacted in the most appropriate way."

"I would beg to differ-," Orienn interjected.

"Thank you, Orienn," Sera whispered and held out a hand to quell his temper. He looked angrier than she was herself. Dr. Lyra shot glances between Orienn and Sera, unsure of who to focus on.

"General Hux has requested I attend personally to your medical needs," Dr. Lyra pulled a device from the medical table next to Sera's bed.

"And I request anybody else," Sera pulled her arm from Dr. Lyra who grabbed her wrist for a pulse test.

"The lady does not consent, Doctor," Orienn pulled the device from Dr. Lyra's hand and tossed it across the room as he'd done with his discarded gun and knife.

The floor rattled and Orienn smiled. "Huh. I'm stronger than I thought."

Creaky, wheeled stands rolled through the room. Drawers crashed open and tools galore littered the floor. Bottles toppled to the ground, shattering into glassy bits. The floor became a swirling swamp of green, brown, and bullets from Orienn's gun.

"Wait," Sera jumped from bed and bolted to the window. Slipping on solution and glass, Sera rushed to look outside. Palms planted against the glass, she watched space light up. What was black and blue and gold was red and orange and _fire_.

Ships collided and spiraled, bouncing off the shields protecting the Supremacy.

Below them, Sera saw something she did not expect. A Dreadnought sat still, taking the brunt of the damage from the little ships speeding by. Rogue x-wings struck a tie fighter head on and exploded in a single brilliant conflagration.

"We're being hit. Shit, we're being hit." Sera dropped to the floor, desperately searching for anything to wrap her leg. Glass lodged in her hands and knees but adrenaline pumped away the shock. No pain came from the spots of blood sprouting like flowers in her hands.

"Orienn, it's the Resistance," Sera reached under a capsized drawer, pulling a roll of gauze and wrapping. "You have better weapons on you, don't you?" Sera realized the outdated gun and wimpy knife had been a show to gain her trust. No universe existed where this man didn't carry proper weaponry. She assumed all high ranking officials did.

"Of course, cupcake," Orienn pulled a blaster from his pant leg, "You know me so well." He tossed it to Sera who snatched it from the air. She locked it into the holster on her uniform and began the arduous process of wrapping her bleeding leg.

Fumbling through the wrap, Sera tore the excess with her teeth and tied a tight knot to hold the bandage in place. It was snug but held in the blood. The shoddy work would do.

The floor shuttered again and Sera looked up to see Dr. Lyra standing statue still, focused on the chaotic scene.

"What are you still doing here?" Sera yelled. "Go!"

Dr. Lyra grabbed a few tools and bolted from the room, convening with the other medics in the hallway. They spoke hurriedly, pointing different directions and hollering orders to one another.

"Time for us to boogie too," Orienn grabbed Sera's hands and heaved her up. "Your leg gonna hold up?"

"We don't have time to think about that," Sera pushed past him. "Run now, seek medical treatment later."

"Hux has good taste," Orienn called as they sprinted through the medical ward. "You're a spitfire!"

"I'm going to need you to shut up and focus," Sera called back as they heaved discarded medical supplies from their route to the exist.

They crashed through the ward doors and entered utter mayhem. Troopers and officers alike shoved past each other, attempting to reach their posts.

Flashing red lights and blaring alarms filled the halls. They obstructed their vision and nearly blew their eardrums, but everybody soldiered on.

High strung lights swung on the ceiling, smacking their neighbors, sending them in a dozen different directions. A violent spotlight effect lit up the hallway as they ran.

The floor rattled with each strike until everything slowed and the shaking ended. Feet pounded against the floor but the floor ceased fighting back.

"Come on," Orienn grabbed Sera's hand and dragged her down the hall, the opposite direction of the masses. "You're an engineer, right? Know how to work your own weapons?"

"Of course," Sera yelled, unsure Orienn could hear her. Brilliant white spots filled her peripheral vision, giving the room a haunting glow. The hall flashed red, white, and red again. Ivory tinted Stormtroopers became a bloody scarlet with each flash. "Where are we going?"

"Main command," Orienn looked back to see the surprise on Sera's face.

"Absolutely not," Sera yelled, dodging the officers and Troopers who paid her no notice for the first time since she'd awoken. "Hux explicitly told me to stay the hell away from him."

"You and I have very different opinions on this situation," Orienn laughed jovial, throwing his arms to the side, enjoying the pandemonium. "I have the clearance to bring you there. You're helping me, not Hux. He also made me swear I wouldn't let you out of my sight and I need to be at command."

"What exactly do you do for Hux?" Sera paused to run her hand over her bandaged leg.

"Some of this and that," Orienn evaded, digging in his coat and finding another wayward blaster. "I might need this." He waved it near Sera's panting chest.

"You're his strong-arm so he can keep his hands clean?" Sera gripped the blaster at her side, unsure this man wasn't here to assassinate her.

It was possible he wouldn't lead her to command. He could take her anywhere and dispose of her while the ship succumbed to mayhem. It would be simple justifying the sudden disappearance of a high profile First Order member during a Resistance raid. Maybe they captured her or she died doing what she'd done on Starkiller. A multitude of stories were plausible. Then they would drop her in the wilds of space and the general population would be none the wiser.

This was why she'd remained reticent about her lineage. It implanted an enduring, flaming target on her back.

"Hux has no qualms getting his hands dirty," Orienn examined the blaster before locking it on his side, caressing it like an invaluable treasure. "If he wanted you dead, we wouldn't be having this conversation. He would have already killed you."

"Alright," Sera held up her hand to stop for a moment. She leaned against the icy wall, grabbing her leg.

Choppy combat raged outside. Sera eyed the ships clashing and the Resistance closed in. It looked like a relatively small force until she noticed the slow-moving bombers moving into position above the Dreadnought.

Her options were slim. Breaking from Orienn was high risk with a small chance of success. The hall had too much white to slip into the pools of people unseen.

If he was at her side to kill her, he would find a way. But if the Resistance broke through their front, she wouldn't live long anyways.

Sera made her decision.

"Ready to keep moving?" Orienn patted her on the shoulder. "It's just a few more minutes if we hurry."

Sera nodded and heaved herself from the wall. Orienn took off in a flash, bolting down the hall. Panting and biting away the searing pain, Sera flew after him.

They ran at a reckless speed down dozens of hallways, moving left and right and around corners.

"They're bombing the Dreadnought," Sera screamed as she tumbled over fallen weaponry on the floor. A blaster lay abandoned and she bent down to snatch it from the floor. She confirmed its lock and shoved it in her pants, covering it with her uniform coat. "Did you see it?"

"Of course they are," Orienn spun and jogged backwards, slowing his pace to accommodate Sera's limping form, hindered by her sudden stop to grab the extra weapon. "We're almost there, just keep moving a little longer."

The waves of people thinned as they neared their destination.

A few Stormtroopers held their guns up as Sera and Orienn approached. With a few whispers amongst themselves, they dropped the weapons and retained their previous immobile state.

"Here's the plan," Orienn grabbed the door handles as Sera grasped at them. "Keep your head down and do as I say. I'll handle Hux."

"What do you mean handle-"

A rush of air from the doors cut Sera short. Unkempt hair whipped her face, obstructing her vision. She ripped it from her eyes and looked down, following Orienn inside.

He walked confidently, swinging his arms at his side like he was at his leisure. A few people raised their eyes but most stayed trained on their task.

Nobody seemed surprised by Sera and Orienn's presence. Focused on their station, high ranking officials called to one another, yelling orders and status updates.

Hux stood tall at the other side of the room, observing the situation. He barked orders to somebody below him.

"Everything," Hux sounded primal and powerful yelling his vicious command. "Send everything to the bombers. They are targeting the Dreadnought."

"Head over to the left," Orienn pointed towards a machine manned by one other person.

Sera half heard his hurried instructions. Her focus trained on Hux, standing elevated on the platform above his officers. The wild look on his face made her heart race and head pound. His controlled movements were aggressive and every clipped order was precise and domineering.

She blinked away her trance and rushed to the side of the woman working her assigned station.

The woman gave her a wayward glance and returned to her work.

With a rush of commotion, the room shuttered and the raucous occupants went silent.

"They - They've succeeded, sir," A Lieutenant stuttered, breaking the news to Hux like he couldn't see the second disaster in three days unfolding under his command.

Sera heard Snoke's name and looked immediately to the stunned Hux. The room went cold as he spoke.

"Ah, excellent," He said, voice shaking slightly. "I'll take it in my quarters."

A grizzly depiction on Snoke appeared. He looked fuzzy from the over sized projection taking up at least a fourth of the room. Sera went still at the site of the man who'd tortured her hours before. Somehow, his enlarged projection added to his ominous presence, even if she only looked at the back of his mangled head.

Orienn hurried to her side and pulled Sera behind him; Getting her away from the view of the hologram. He wrapped his arms behind himself, holding her in place.

Sera peeked over his shoulder to see the acute terror on Hux's face. The look was reminiscent of his hopeless stare from Starkiller mingled with a rouge determination. Her heart ached so desperately it felt like something vital shattered inside her. That was not the look of a man in control.

"Don't even think about it," Orienn turned his head and whispered hurriedly to the struggling girl behind him. "Stop drawing attention to yourself. You can't help him."

Hux glanced towards Sera and Orienn and turned to face Snoke in front of his military.


	5. Arduous Agreements

Sera held her head high, watching Hux receive the identical treatment she'd endured earlier in the day.

His hair toppled in front of his face and his uniform tore at his knees. Blood cascaded down his face from his temple and lip, staining the silver floor.

Everything Sera understood of the First Order shattered. Snoke didn't reserve this punishment for useless crew members. Nobody was immune. And in Sera's mind, Hux did nothing wrong. The bombers acted so recklessly, it's likely Hux failed to expect such a stunt. But this compounded with Starkiller was a death sentence for Hux. Especially if what Orienn said about him and Snoke was true.

The crew splintered in their reaction, unsure of the proper protocol in such a unique situation. A third looked away, ignoring Snoke flinging their commanding officer across the room, keeping to their work. The second third watched in abject horror, covering their mouths and wrestling with their current bleak reality. The final third looked on triumphantly, pleased Hux received the brutal treatment many of themselves endured at his hands.

It clicked for Sera how many high ranking enemies Hux must consistently suppress. If he'd ascended to his current position, others waited both patiently and impatiently for their opportunity to usurp him; biding their time for similar situations.

Sera writhed in Orienn's arms, struggling to break free. She locked her foot in his and he immediately let her go. The second she tasted freedom, he snagged her wrist. She stepped to the side for a better view of the scene. Her chest heaved as she stood fixated, watching the terror before her.

Pieces of shattered ship and weaponry floated listlessly on the other side of the massive window. Lost and broken bodies spun by. It no longer mattered from which side they came, all were dead. Sera pulled from Orienn and gripped the panel in front of her. Remnants of militaristic destruction lingered behind Hux on the floor. Sera's jaw dropped as she flicked her gaze between space and Hux.

The woman to her side looked at Sera with mild interest before returning to her work, shaking her head. Sera grit her teeth and turned away from the scene towards Orienn who replaced his tight hold on her wrist.

Snoke's commands echoed through the room but Sera understood none. It was an echo in a canyon so large, it muddled the message. The booming, warbled voice brought pain to her ears and she rubbed away the feeling of rushing blood.

Hux lay on his knees, looking up at Snoke. Sera caught the last of his words.

"They can't escape," Hux hissed. "We have them on a string."

His control looked ripe to shatter along with his facade of professionalism. Hux's arms shook as he supported his weight with his hands. The greatcoat he wore religiously fell to the side, hanging from one arm. Blood pooled at his temple and fell into his eyes, but he did not shy away.

Snoke's hologram disintegrated like a firework running its course. Hux's entire body quaked as he heaved himself from the ground, stumbling before regaining composure. Running his hands through his hair and readjusting his jacket, he made his way back to his platform. Wiping blood from his face, a gory stain covered his arm sleeve where it made contact. He carefully buttoned his coat and tugged a his displaced collar.

A moment of silence passed while Hux regained control. Then he shouted commands once more. The paralyzed crew fell back into their routine, preparing for whatever it was Hux seemed to have in mind.

"Stay here for now," Orienn patted her arm. "I know you won't but I can at least tell you so when Hux murders us for whatever you're about to do, I can claim innocence."

"I'm not going to _do_ anything," Sera shoved Orienn's arm, which he immediately clutched, feigning severe injury. Motioning her head to the woman beside her, Sera sat down on her provided chair. The circular stool sunk as Sera took her seat.

Logging into the system, Sera calibrated the weapon. It had been a while since she'd played with the weapon itself. Something deep inside her yearned to use it. At least she could be certain it would excel since she had worked on it herself.

Sera peered around as Orienn headed towards Hux, ensuring nobody watched her line of sight. The deterrence of visibility made her actions small and unobtrusive. Everybody in the room would relay her actions elsewhere. Sera was rash, indeed, but she wasn't an imbecile.

A painful shiver trailed up her back to neck. Recalling Hux towering over her, disinterested, after Snoke's interrogation. Feeling no immediate urge to come to his aid, Sera shook off the shiver. Her leg wound remained untreated and she continued work. Hux could handle a few scratches and a bruised ego. It was a fair trade.

"Are you Officer Landal?" Her companion leaned over to whisper as they lurched into hyperspace.

"Yes," Sera nodded and continued her work, unwilling to continue the conversation. That question would go nowhere productive and Sera had nothing of value to say to this woman.

The lady looked on, awaiting explanation. When she received none, she cracked her knuckles and went back to work.

In a flash of lengthy blue and white light, the ship burst before the Resistance, as it had been moments ago. The sudden view of the enemy ships made her head spin. Sera blinked, thinking she'd misseen their sudden arrival. Believing her fever had returned, Sera rubbed her eyes to clear her vision.

The small Resistance force remained like gnats on a window. Hux tracked them through hyperspace.

Sera wrapped her arms around herself like she fell head first into the snow on Starkiller. Neck creaking, she looked slowly enough not to draw attention. High ranking crew worked on their given tasks. Nobody looked shocked they'd completed an insurmountable stunt. The clacking of typing filled the room and the symphony of voices grew. Either it was a ploy to evade the potential wrath of Hux or they weren't impressed with this groundbreaking technology.

Orienn reached Hux and patted him on the shoulder. Hux spun, knocking his hair out of place. The harsh curl of his lip faded seeing Orienn behind him. Leaning in to speak, Hux turned his head from Sera. Reading his lips was a futile endeavor.

Orienn looked back at her and turned back to mumble to Hux.

The shoddy leg wrappings slipped and Sera tugged at them, shoving the loose material in her chair to better hold it in place. They looked like she'd taken a bloody paintbrush to her leg and crafted a masterpiece.

Watching Hux and Orienn was fruitless so Sera turned to her weapon. Bright green markers adorned the oversized screen, differentiating their own ships from the Resistance. Numbers ran down in rapid succession on the side of the screen and Sera followed their path in her mind.

The machine completed its calibration with a loud click and she leaned to the woman beside her, giddy with the opportunity to test her weaponry. She hadn't overtly lied when Orienn asked if she'd used her weaponry; she'd assisted in the creation and use of simulations, but never a practical assessment.

"Weapon hot," Sera called.

"Hold," An Officer down the line held a palm in the air. Running his finger down his screen, he passed his own message up the line to his superior.

Hux's eyes landed on Sera. She jerked her head to the side to see the General and Orienn watching her. Orienn threw his arms to the side, crossing them over themselves and back again, making an 'x' symbol. Hux pointed to Sera and spoke with pursed lips, towering over Orienn. They were quarreling.

Orienn dropped his arms. With a final look at Hux, Orienn walked towards Sera. But she wasn't focused on him. Hux stared her down, brows furrowed, and deep in a frown. A gentle shake of his head was enough to make Sera stand.

"Sera," Orienn grabbed her arm and started walking. "Sera, Sera, Sera."

"What did we do?" Sera tugged her arm into herself but he held tight. "What did _you_ do?"

"Ah," Orienn dragged her through the exit of command. "About that. I may have misinterpreted my instructions from Hux."

"Of course you did," Sera dragged a hand over her face, tugging on her nose as she pulled down. Lost was the opportunity to test drive her weapon.

The guarding Stormtroopers with their stiff stance paid them no mind as they exited. Pounding feet filled the silence as Sera pondered the extent of Hux's fury. The loose leg wrappings dragged on the floor like a gory wedding gown train. Sera tugged them out of the way to mitigate the tripping hazard.

"Apparently I was supposed to 'keep you secure' at all times," Orienn said. "Not just 'watch you at all times and go where ever I feel like with you tagging along.' According to _some_ people, whom I've chosen not to name, Command is not a _safe_ place or fit for an injured crew member. And I'm _irresponsible_ and in contempt of a direct order from a superior."

Orienn scoffed, having a conversation with himself.

"You're insane."

Orienn shoved Sera's shoulder and she toppled into an alcove. Caught unaware, Sera spun to see a glistening needle in Orienn's hand. A glowing gold liquid swirled like a tornado in the syringe.

"That makes me feel a little less shitty for doing this," Orienn shoved the needle in the soft skin between Sera's neck and shoulder. Sera whipped the syringe with her arm, sending it flying across the room. Her hands felt numb and distant as she reached lamely to get at Orienn. Fire trickled into her veins. She felt a burst of energy and an immediate drop to nothing.

"Sorry, cupcake. I really am." Orienn held his arms to catch her.

"Hypocrite," Eyelids fluttering closed, Sera keeled over into his outstretched hands, dead to the world.

* * *

The room on the new ship was as white as the medical facility on the Supremacy. Fallen solutions and shattered glass were a distant memory. Pops of color cut through the sterile white, most prominently, Sera's medical gown and Orienn's distressed uniform. Like specs of ocean peeking through frothing, white waves.

Orienn sat near her, leaning forward, hands over his mouth. He tapped his foot and eyed the door.

Orienn waited. Waited. Waited.

Thirty boring hours spent in the room with Sera. Hux and Dr. Lyra, who abandoned her role as Sera's medical advisor, hadn't made a peep.

Sera slept soundly, chest moving up and down rhythmically. Doctors tended her wounds and nothing but a pink scar remained on her thigh. It wouldn't open again this time.

Her hair spread like weeds across the pillow, wrapping her ears and nose as she moved sleeping positions.

When the tall figure came into the room uninvited, Orienn stood, knowing it was either Hux or Captain Opan to piss on his poor performance. Hopefully not both. He wouldn't admit it, but Hux and Opan together were a formidable pair that Orienn wouldn't knowingly cross.

"Give this to Landal," Hux handed Orienn a sleek sheet of sealed paper. "I expect she receives it the second she wakes."

"Can I-" Orienn ran calloused fingers over the inky seal.

"Absolutely not. It is not for your eyes," Hux grimaced. "I want you to speak with me when I've concluded my conversation with Landal. Opan and I have decided you're more useful alive than dead. But it was a close decision."

"Excellent. I always try to be more useful alive than dead," Orienn clapped his hands and tossed the letter on Sera's pillow. His shoulders sank in relief. "I'll make sure she reads it the second she wakes up."

"But," Hux turned at the door. "If she kills you for what you did to her, which she may very well do, I had no prior knowledge of it."

"I'm pretty good at making sure people don't kill me," Orienn waved a finger at Hux.

"I certainly hope so," Hux said, slamming the door lock.

* * *

"What did you do to me?" Sera gripped Orienn's arm behind his back, twisting his wrist until he hissed in protest. "It was the sleep serum shit, wasn't it?"

"Yes, okay?" Orienn shook his wrist and Sera heaved him into a wall. Medical tools tumbled down over them. Needles knicked their uniforms and latex gloves clung to buttons. "Hux demanded you seek medical treatment, immediately."

"So you drug me?" Sera pushed his forearm towards his neck. He yelped at the pain of his elbow pulling against itself.

"You wouldn't have gone quietly," Orienn's voice came distorted. Sera pressed his cheek against the chilly wall. "Just read the note, okay?"

Sera shoved him into the wall before dropping her hold on him. She couldn't say she would have gone quietly, even at Hux's personal request. Her wellbeing came second to ensuring she was useful.

Prying the seal from the note, it said one thing: See me. The beautiful scrawl needed no deciphering from Orienn. She'd set off to find Hux before he could say who it had come from.

After snatching her father's pin from her bedside, she was ready to face whatever lay in front of her.

Sera walked through the halls of a ship she didn't recognize. All remnants of attack gone, everything was pristine as usual. During her time out, medics moved her from the obliterated Supremacy, by Orienn's account.

Sera pilfered a slightly large uniform from a closet outside the medical ward. The shoulders tumbled down her arms and the pants were long enough to pool at her feet. But considering the circumstances, an impeccable uniform was unnecessary. Finding a suitable uniform on such short notice was difficult.

Orienn walked in front of her, silent for once. Sera ignored him, pleased he hadn't spoken since she'd abandoned medbay. Sera had no discharge papers but assumed nobody would come looking for her.

"So what does the note say?" Orienn slowed and spun to look at her. Sera pulled on his ear in response. "Ow. Okay fine. Don't tell me."

"You honestly didn't read it?" Sera turned a corner and reveled in the feeling of a healthy leg and clear mind. Her skin didn't burn with fever and the previous pain was nonexistent. She felt better physically than she had in days.

Sera watched every move Orienn made. She would see it coming if Orienn made to drug her a second time. She was too trusting of him and wouldn't allow it a second time.

"Nope," Orienn shook his head. "I already pissed off Hux enough. I didn't feel like pressing my luck."

Sera didn't respond. Instead, she stood in front of Hux's door, contemplating the reason for their conversation. Barging in on command was foolish and she would blame her feverish haze until the day someone ran her through.

Somehow, Sera anticipated something ornate, not the standard looking silver door. A basic setup didn't seem appropriate for one of the most powerful men in the galaxy.

She knocked and stood tall, chin held high; accepting whatever Hux would do for disobeying his order to keep away.

Bouncing on her heels, Sera basked in the glory of a movable leg. It was stiff along her knee and hip but the movement was there. All to complain of was an itchy, irritated ear. But that was the rough pillow she'd spent hours on in medbay. The only thing remaining from Starkiller was a leg scar she could add to her collection. One step farther from her mother's legacy.

The door flew open and a shell of a man stood there. Hux hunched forward, leaning like a wilting plant. Veiny bags under his eyes overtook his wan face. Grease coated his scalp like he hadn't showered in days. And his sunken posture looked more a kicked dog than General. But the impeccable state of his uniform told another story.

"Sir?" Sera said. She opened her mouth to speak again but held her tongue.

"Get inside," Hux pointed past him. "Selys, you stay here. Ensure nobody interrupts."

"Aye, aye, sir!" Orienn saluted Hux as the door slammed in his peppy face.

The organized office reflected Hux's craving for control. Not a single item sat misplaced. Every pen had a holder, every paper had a file, and every spec of dust was removed from the space.

Various data pads and personnel files covered the desk on the far side of the room. Sera stepped around Hux and peeked over the desk. Her own file shone on the data pad centered in front of the chair. It was a photo from early in her First Order enlistment on screen. She looked young, fewer wrinkles, more fire in her eyes. Smugness, reveling in the success of her escape.

"The Resistance decimated the Supremacy," Hux whispered and Sera jumped out of her skin. "And Snoke is dead."

She spun at the desk, grasping the edge to hold her in place. The gentleness in his voice burned her to her core.

"Dead?" Sera reached for a chair and pulled it to herself. She sat slowly, watching Hux as he stood still in the middle of the room. "Who-?"

"That is not your concern," Hux said. "We must now focus on Ren. He is my superior and has made a request of you. It is my task to see it through." The scowl on his face told Sera everything regarding his opinion on Ren's new position. If Hux could throw Ren from a cliff, he would.

 **" _Ren_?" **Sera slammed her hands to her mouth. His rages and violent temperament concerned Sera. That man was incapable of leadership. He was a child in the way he behaved. Ren hid his face like a coward but opened his wild personality for the galaxy to bear witness. Such an unstable man at the helm would lead them to disaster.

Hux pulled up a chair to face Sera. He sat before her, looking down with an odd glint in his eye.

His gaze slipped down her uniform, lingering on her scarred leg.

"How are your wounds?"

"Impeccable," Sera hoped Dr. Lyra hadn't been the one to mend her exquisitely.

Hux stared at Sera, silent but engaged. Leaning towards her, he watched the twitch in her lips, her uncertain posture, and the flames of distention in her eyes.

"Ren has taken Snoke's title and role. And as such, he has requested we move forward with the proposition I offered Supreme Leader Snoke after your reveal."

"Ren isn't fit to lead," Sera gripped the edge of the chair, burning her knuckles white. While Snoke was a torturous villain, Ren was a caricature of power and strength; a moping child grasping at power he couldn't contain. How could he command a military when he couldn't command himself?

Witnessing a meltdown from Ren was no longer as appealing as a few days ago.

"Ren's suitability for the role will not impact your special assignment," Hux said, not denying her previous statement. "I had planned for your task to take place in a few months time to adequately prepare you. Ren has requested next week."

"Next week?" Sera looked up at the ceiling, begging she'd misheard. This man was impossible. "You just demanded I remain as far away from you as possible. I don't want to be involved in your ill-considered plan."

She looked down in time to see a flash of uncertainty from Hux. He shifted in his chair and leaned closer.

"I requested you remain on my periphery unless specifically invited," His voice fell to an intimate whisper. Hux brought his hand to her thigh and traced a finger from hip to knee where Sera's scar lay under her uniform. "You have now been invited."

His gentle touch seared the skin encircling her scar like a brand. Sera felt the heat rush from her leg, up her spine, and to her heart. It raced like a sleet storm hurtling towards the parched earth.

"I don't want anything to do with this," Sera watched his gloved hand trace down her leg. Her voice shook and her stomach lurched at his touch. Whether she meant the plan or the touch, she wasn't certain. "What about Snoke?"

"Snoke is dead," Hux repeated, calm as a viper before his strike. "My previous orders are null in Ren's eyes." Hux pushed down in the middle of her scar and Sera hissed. He looked up at her reaction, fascinated.

"What is my task?" Sera wouldn't wait any longer. She needed to know, had to understand. Her mouth quivered, begging to say anything to distract from Hux's hand on her. She was capable of pushing him away. But she didn't.

"There is a metal-rich planet in your family's jurisdiction," Hux removed his hand and reached around Sera's head, pulling a datapad from his desk. Handing it to Sera, she looked down cautiously, unsure she should remove her eyes from Hux lest he did something she was uncomfortable with. He returned to his standard cold and professional demeanor. "Both the First Order and the Resistance are barred from partaking in its wealth. It's political bi-partisanship at its worst."

"I was unaware unbiased monarchies were detrimental to the galaxy," Sera's mouth tightened into a scowl.

The scorching heat tickling her veins felt like suffocation. This pain wasn't foreign but Sera pushed it away, focusing on her given task. Personal entanglements would destroy her. It always did.

"I would not claim your family unbiased considering your father's previous affiliations," Hux slid his finger across the datapad and a planet Sera immediately recognized arose from the screen in its three-dimensional glory. Skopje VI was a stunning planet. Its crystalline sand glistened from space, reflecting every color of the rainbow from its surface. Small, traveling enclaves inhabited the planet. Violence was scarce and the population simple.

She remembered her father's last act before she left. Five years ago, he barred the planet from Resistance or First Order influence to maintain its peaceful existence. The Skopje ruling families remained diligent in their task and Sera doubted any potential divergence in their opinion.

"Though my father has previous affiliations," Sera spun the planet with her finger, admiring the soft glow. "They rule as equally as possible. But my father may have personal beliefs linked to the First Order."

"Regardless," Hux swiped to the next page. "I want access to the planet. Its mineral and metal reserves are crucial in controlling the region. If used properly, it is one of the most lucrative planets in the galaxy."

"And how am I to get it for you?" Sera watched his serious face set in a frown. His eyebrows sank and lids crinkled.

"Diplomacy."

"Your least favorite method?" Sera said dryly, leaning back in her chair. Hux displayed calculation, though perhaps not diplomatic tendencies. She assumed a man like him had little time for patience with people, considering the operation he ran. He wasn't a king, he was a General.

"A necessary first step in securing the region," Hux looked up from the datapad. "And I am so fortunate as to be sitting in the same room as one of the only women in the galaxy who can give it to me."

"I'm not a diplomat," Sera reasoned. This task suited the other women in her family. Even if she spoke well, speaking persuasively was a different matter. She hadn't practiced in the half-decade following orders. It had been years since she'd struck deep with witty banter at dinner parties and formal functions.

"If I am not mistaken, you are royalty," The side of Hux's mouth turned up with a half smile. "You were born into diplomacy."

"I've remained out of the public eye for five years," Sera placed the datapad on her lap, freeing her hands. "Whatever skills I may have had, they're long gone. Speak with my sister Ayla if you're so keen on this planet."

"You have not abdicated," Hux pulled the datapad. "You are the correct person with which to speak as I do not have access to your parents."

"No," Sera sighed. "Simply abandoning my role was not considered abdication, according to multiple members of my family who felt the need to write to remind me."

"Your options are as follows," Hux ignored her comment on her ornery family. "You work with the ruling families of Skopje, forging an agreement to use their resources or we storm the planet, burn it to the ground, and take what we want without request."

"They've done nothing in this war," Sera heaved up from the chair. "They're a peaceful people. They're innocent."

She barely rose taller than Hux while she stood and he sat. The exhaustion in his face wasn't relayed in the ferocity in his eyes. Sera's legs grazed his knees they were so close. Hux's chest rose and fell under his uniform, his breathing controlled, as he was with everything.

"And you have the opportunity to keep it so," Hux retorted. His fingers played at the hem of Sera's jacket, tugging at the gilt buttons, dragging her closer. As he entwined his hand in her coat, the loose material fell to reveal her shoulder.

"Hux," Sera hissed, grabbing his shoulder tight, gripping with her nails. "Are you touching me to manipulate me?" This game was beneficial to neither. Why couldn't this man ask like a normal human being? The theatrics would not sway her.

"Prove it."

Sera grabbed his wayward arm to lock it behind his back. Hux moved faster, deflecting her and releasing his arm from her grip.

Locking an arm around her waist, Hux held Sera in place. They stood, staring at the other's eyes, anticipating the flicker of intent.

Sera laced her ankle in Hux's and pulled while using her body weight to shove him. Breaking from his hold with a dexterous spin, Sera took a step out of his reach.

The room was circular, making it difficult to corner her. Sera dragged a hand along the edge of the room to stay grounded while she waited for his next move. It bounced off books, artifacts, datapads, and a floor-to-ceiling window as she circled the room.

Hux grabbed for her and they began again. Arms flew as they blocked the other's advances. Sera heaved her fist into his shoulder to stop him wrapping his arm around hers.

Her bones ached from the clash of skin and bones. Bruises would invade her arms in the coming hours. Though Hux was slight in stature, he was stronger than she expected. Each blow hurt more than the one before.

Hux held her elbow and moved to kick her behind the knee. He grazed the back of her leg and Sera kneed his thigh.

Breaking out, Sera circled the room. Her chest heaved watching Hux watch her.

"Striking a commanding officer is treason," Hux stepped forward, backing her into a wall. "The punishment for treason is death." He gripped her at the waist and pushed his body into hers. The heat of his body shocked her less than the self-satisfied smirk on his face.

 ** _He was enjoying this_ , Sera realized. **

"Then kill me," Sera conceded. "I won't risk the lives of the Skopje people because of your endless greed."

Sweat dripped down Sera's temple and caught in her eyes. His chest against her exacerbated the heat. Like she dangled her toes over an active volcano, rippling and popping with lava and fire.

Hux clutched her wrist and yanked sideways, tossing Sera to the floor. She hit the ground with a thud and curse. His knees dug into her thighs and Hux fell forward, gripping her hands above her head. His free hand pushed into her diaphragm. The heavy greatcoat fell over her like a blanket and there was pressure from a blaster pressed into her side. Hux's untucked cotton shirt dragged against Sera's uniform, pulling it up to reveal his stomach.

"Kill me," Sera pushed her neck up to speak inches from his face. "And you'll never find the mines on Skopje. Burn it to the ground, raid their villages, murder every last man, woman, and child. I swear to you, nobody will give you the answer you need. There's only one who knows. You kill me, his name and where to find him dies with me. You will never get access to my family. It's only me."

"Are you questioning my ability to discover this on my own?" Hux's grip on her wrists tightened. And hard as he held her, his thumb traced the veins along her wrist, teasing.

"Yes."

The pressure on her stomach built the harder Hux pushed. Her head fell back down on the floor and Hux leaned down slowly. Their noses met as he examined her under him. He dragged his face down her cheek, landing on her ear.

"I will do whatever it takes to get the information I require." Warm air hit her neck as he whispered into her ear.

"Are you going to torture me too?" Sera turned her head to the side to stare into his eyes. "Rip me limb from limb? Shove blades under my nails until I crack? I won't sell my peaceful people to you. That's where I draw the line."

"What if they never know?" Hux ran the arm on Sera's stomach up her side. Her shirt crumpled at her waist as he dragged the fabric with him. Hux tangled his hand in the soft hair at the base of her neck. "If you control the negotiations, nobody need ever know you or the First Order were there."

"Do you honestly believe I could show up in my sector after five years and not get recognized?" Sera struggled against his hold and he dropped his grip. Stumbling back and moving away, Hux looked as stunned as she felt. "I'm the long-lost princess. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a bounty on my head, either."

"Make your decision," Hux leaned back on his hands, catching his breath. "We either do it on your terms or mine. The plan proceeds either way."

The thought of the First Order invading her peaceful planet like they were a traitorous Resistance base made her head pound and heart ache.

"We do it my way," Sera conceded. She lay back on the floor and stared at the metal paneling of the ceiling. Rivets decorated the space above her and she wanted to count each one before asking questions. At least he had the respect to give her an option to dictate the future of her sector. Hux could proceed without her input. "I would like to ask one question before we begin."

"My permission will not determine your decision whether or not to ask."

"You're perceptive, General," Sera pulled hair from her eyes that caught between her lids. "Why did Commander Ren make this a top priority?"

Hux sat silent, staring at a space past Sera's head. Past the room they sat in and past their current galaxy. He was so distant, Sera took the time to examine the harsh lines on his face and how they softened.

"He believes you are excellent motivation."

"For what?" Sera waited for Hux to catch her eyes once more and immediately wished she hadn't.

"Me."


	6. Uneven Expectations

"You?" Sera choked, unable to believe what she'd heard. She sat up on her elbows, shoving them into the prickly carpet. "Explain."

It was more command than request.

"We begin tomorrow," Pulling his legs in, Hux turned away as he stood. "You are absolved of your previous duties. You now report directly to me and only me. Do you understand?" He moved data pads around the desk, busying himself.

"You're really going to ignore this?" Sera stormed up behind him. He turned his head slightly, engaging the visible muscles in his neck. He watched her.

Refusing to accept his actions were purely manipulative, Sera remained resolved to understand this peculiar behavior. It had to be shock or a misunderstanding.

"Why did you run?"

"To the First Order?" Sera stepped back as Hux turned. Leaning against the desk, Hux crossed his arms to form a barrier between them. A nod was her only que to continue. "Must I say?"

"I expect my direct reports to be honest and forthcoming. I will provide the same as your clearance allows," Hux held a small datapad out to Sera. She pulled it from him and looked down at its glossy finish. "In case you ever need to contact me directly."

"Alright," Sera sighed, preparing herself to spill every traumatizing event leading to her desertion. Blood rushed to her head and she felt dizzy. The intensity of his body previously against her was still making her tense. Perhaps a brief description was as effective as a novelization of her misery. If she was going to make it out of whatever this was Hux demanded, she'd need to play the part. "I was running."

"That much is obvious."

"I was running from a few things, actually." Sera lodged the datapad in a pocket in her oversized jacket. Her throat dried like the deserts on the outer regions of her family's jurisdiction. Hux watched her with unbridled interest. It was not contrived. He wanted to know, Sera realized. "There was a man."

"Isn't there always?" Hux mused.

"No," Sera hissed. "You misinterpret the situation. He was inhumane, irrational, and wholly unfit to rule the region. It would have been a calamity to marry him. It was my domain to rule, not his. But he demanded things of me I could never allow. Not to such a weak, clueless fool." Sera dragged her hand over the pocket housing her father's pin. The point pricked her through the material, soothing her.

"My only option was murder or fleeing. I chose the less violent option. Or I chose the option that wouldn't forever implicate me in the eyes of my people. It was no secret I despised the man. The murder would have come right back to me, without question."

"And so you join the military which is equally if not more, inhumane, as you put it?" Hux leaned back casually. His eyes gleamed bright with fascination. "I assume this was your father's influence."

"Naturally," Sera smiled fondly. "He saw through both Stiva and I. My father trained me for years against my mother's wishes. I learned everything I know from him. I never wanted to be just a politician, a beautiful figurehead sitting on a throne doing _nothing_ while my selected husband took the role that's mine by right. My mother never knew this, but Stiva did." Sera scowled and moved to lean against Hux's desk. As she sat beside him, dangling her legs from the edge, Hux tensed but didn't move away.

"My father got me everything I needed to get out. I hoped a few years away would force Stiva to move on and harass another family. One that wouldn't allow him to run a star system. At least not mine, anyway."

"But he did not," Hux looked down at Sera.

"I was foolish not to expect it," Sera shook her head. "He married the next oldest girl in the family. Stiva swears I abdicated by leaving, which just illustrates was a damned fool he continues to be."

Falling back into her court trained tone of speech was miraculously simple. No longer needing to hide, Sera disregarded the way she'd grown used to behaving. Now equally in the spotlight as her last life, there was no need to skulk in the shadows. With Hux's recognition of her title and sudden promotion, everything changed.

"How do you know this?" Hux leaned in close to her.

"My married sister," Sera knocked a foot against the wooden desk. "She used to write to me until Stiva discovered it."

Hux sat silent, considering what she told him. The long-lost princess sitting beside him made him wholly uncomfortable in ways he didn't want to contemplate. By promoting her, he had abolished what little structural separation stood between them. Though already a social equal, if not superior, she was now almost a militaristic equal. Ren would have to pay for his stupid stunt. This was all his fault.

"Is there a third reason?" Hux pulled his torso away as Sera turned to face him on the desk. One leg sat on his desk while the other hung leisurely off the side. Sera sat tall, feeling the equalizing height from the desk. Looking him in the eye no longer required a tilt of the head.

"I would never sit by idly while a war raged on in the galaxy," Sera pursed her lips. "I'm not a coward. I won't sit in my palace, ordering around servants, doing nothing, picking decorations for events, all while people died for peace in the galaxy. What sort of leader would sit by while the galaxy fell into chaos?"

"Stiva," Hux said.

Sera tossed her head back and laughed. "Yes, Stiva. See, you already know everything there is to know about the man."

"Is that all?" Hux asked, looking towards the door. Nothing of what she described was detailed in her file. This was entirely new information to digest.

"I have one request," Sera hopped from the desk and stood before him. "Never hold me on the floor again."

Hux raised a brow at her impertinence. "I will do it if you deserve it."

"Then let's hope I never do again," Sera smirked and spun, ignoring whether Hux wanted her to stay.

She threw the door open, ready to get as far away from Hux as possible.

Orienn lazed against the far wall, foot tossed up against the window. A smudged line of dirt from his shoe trailed along the bottom of the glass. He jumped up seeing Sera and gave her a snarky wink.

"Welcome to the team, cupcake."

* * *

Stiff leather chairs circled an oval shaped conference table. Screens lined one side of the room while the other was coated in floor to ceiling windows. Training squadrons buzzed by the window, drawing Sera's attention away from the meeting.

The massive room and expanse of space was overshadowed by the four figures sitting at the farthest corner of the room. Hux, Sera, Orienn, and Tritt Opan sat together, an uncomfortable quartet. Discussions Sera would never have been privy to previously took place in this room. She was thrilled and horrified simultaneously.

"Tell us what you know," Hux looked up from his datapad across the conference table from Sera. His long legs were crossed under the table, occasionally bumping into Sera's shin. This time Hux dragged his foot over Sera's, pulling her attention from the window behind him.

Ears burning, Sera kicked his shin in retaliation. Hux flashed a smirk and returned to his practiced, professional demeanor.

"That's a lofty request, sir," Opan scowled at Sera from Hux's side. They sat together, sharing information across datapads Sera wasn't privileged to know. Opan pointed to something on his datapad and Hux nodded.

"I know my sector well, Opan," Sera grit her teeth, biting away the fury building in her like a volcano preparing to blow. The man grated on her last nerve. A contrarian to his core, Opan became the biggest thorn in her side over the past few days. His irises were dark as his soul and complimented by a gritty scar across the length of his neck. A permanent reminder how difficult a task killing him would be.

"Let her speak," Hux held a hand to Opan. "This is her area of expertise." His foot dragged over Sera's again and she shifted to wrap her legs under her, freeing them from Hux's grasp.

"Skopje is a recently colonized planet," Sera watched Hux's reaction to her every word. He did not look at her but the twitch in his lip was enough to prove his focus and fascination with their little game. "Forty two years in my family's jurisdiction. The inhabitants are mostly natives born on planet. They're nomadic and peaceful, blissfully unaware of the extensive wealth under their feet."

"How are you so sure?" Opan's fingers tapped hurriedly against his datapad. The scar wiggled menacingly as he spoke.

"No intel that I was privy to indicated their knowledge of the natural resources. They know of the water and vegetation on the surface, but nothing else."

Orienn looked down at his feet, focusing desperately on every last word. Listening, understanding what was happening below the words themselves.

"Crel Marvet oversees the mining on the planet by mindless droids. No sentient lifeform beyond him can access the mines on the planet."

"Again," Opan dropped his datapad on the table. Landing with a loud clunk, it slid to the side, away from his reach. "You have nothing to prove anything of what you say is true. How do we know you aren't leading us into enemy territory? What is there to prove you aren't still predominantly loyal to your bloodline and will doublecross us the second it's beneficial?"

Sera stood, kicking her chair back as she did. It rolled away, colliding with a cabinet.

"I don't recall asking for your opinion, Captain," Sera's voice toppled low to a crackling lilt. The sudden change of tone made both Orienn and Hux look up. Goose pimples prickled Sera's arms at Hux's gaze. It was promising things she wasn't certain she could commit to.

"Enough, Opan," Hux held a hand out to stop Opan reaching across the table for Sera. "If you find this briefing not worth your time, you are dismissed."

"I don't trust her, Sir," Opan stood too. "Doesn't it seem convenient she suddenly gets your attention after five years undercover? If she's not a mole, I'll throw myself out an airlock."

Sera heaved herself across the table to grab for Opan but Orienn leapt up to grab her around the waist.

"Sera, stop," Orienn whispered in her ear, unheard by Hux or Opan who glared at one another. The deep-seated vitriol of decades by the other's side permeated their gaze.

"Thank you for your unwelcome commentary, Opan," Hux clenched his fists as a muscle in his face spasmed. "Now, get out."

Opan shoved his datapad from the table like a toddler throwing a tantrum and headed for the door.

"If you're a traitor," Opan turned to look at Sera, still corralled in Orienn's arms. "I won't give Hux the pleasure of killing you. I'll do it myself first."

"I'd like to see you try," Sera snarled. Threats on her life were a near daily occurrence at home. An angry man with a vendetta was not uncommon. As long as she remained useful and rational, there could not be a valid reason to kill her. Hopefully, Hux would be the one to give the order if the time came, not Opan with his half-cocked understanding of her situation.

A chill in the room wrapped itself around her like a rabbit ensnared in a trap. Murder lingered heavy in Opan's eyes. This man would not hesitate to eliminate her if he felt himself or the First Order was even minimally slighted.

Opan huffed and left without another word.

"Continue," Hux locked eyes with Sera. She swallowed and looked down at her datapad before taking her seat again.

Orienn pat her shoulder supportively and pulled his chair closer to her own.

"The mine operates on unique hours," She slid her hand across the datapad, finding the supplemental research to present. A graph of mineral reserves moved on the screen, rotating monthly mining metrics. "Marvet works only during hours the inhabitants aren't traveling."

"Is that how they refer to their nomadic lifestyle?" Hux said. "Traveling?"

"It is," Sera looked through her lashes at Hux, attempting to cover her gaze. He sat tall but rolled the tension from his shoulders. Feeling her looking, his eyes shot up and he gave a wily half-smile. She cleared her throat and looked away. "Marvet is clever, he wants to maintain the power he has on the planet. He's seen as royalty by the ruling families. He controls the money so he controls everything."

"What would you family let that happen?" Orienn rubbed his hands on his thighs.

"He's not a threat," Sera tapped her fingers on the wooden desk. It made a rhythmic clicking. "The other prominent families are loyal to my parents, not Marvet. He may have sway over the travelers, but not much else."

"I think I have to side with Opan on this one," Orienn crossed his arms and tossed her feet up on the table. Crusty blood and grime coated the bottom of his shoes. "This isn't a good idea."

"You are also welcome to leave, Selys," Hux cocked his head. "On second thought, I am telling you to leave."

Hux stood and walked around the table to the door. Holding out a hand, he motioned for Orienn to exit. Sera strained her back to turn and look at Hux and his sudden decision. Ramming hard in her chest, her heart thumped at the thought of being alone with Hux. She looked desperately at Orienn, begging he'd understand her plea to remain. The tingling in her leg from his touch lingered and Sera was unsure what she'd do if given the opportunity to touch Hux.

"Oh," Orienn waved his hands. The dozen rings donning his fingers glistened in the fluorescent light. "This is how it's going to be? Great."

Sera ran a hand over her face, covering her view of Orienn's moping. Her plea was misinterpreted. Like a call for ceasefire understood as an order to level a planet.

Orienn fumbled with his datapad and jumped dramatically from his chair. Dirt stuck to the conference table where his feet were perched.

With a huff, he stormed past Hux, existing the conference room.

"His dramatics are insufferable at times," Hux closed the door and walked towards Sera. Searing heat raced up Sera's neck as he came closer. "Though he is invaluable."

"I honestly don't see how, sir," Sera pulled her uninjured leg under her knee, sitting with the other dangling above the floor. The scar dulled to white but the stiffness remained in her leg and hip.

"Believe me when I say he is an asset," Hux grabbed the leather chair beside Sera and dropped his head over the back. He rubbed the tense muscles aching in his neck, pulling hard at the muscle joining neck and shoulder. The casual nature of his movements caused the redness in Sera's neck to rise farther towards her face and into her cheeks.

When Hux finally sat, he turned his chair to face Sera. The black of his uniform bled into the hue of the chair, making his pale skin and hair shine brightly against the dark background. Like the sun rising over the horizon.

Eyes heavy, Sera admired him from head to toe. His uniform tugged at every curve of his arm, the fall of his shoulder, and the length of his chest. He looked commandeering and powerful.

"Yes?"

"Nothing, sir," Sera turned her chair away, pulling her datapad back to herself. "Let's keep working. I have a lot left to share."

* * *

Prickling frost coated the window in Sera's new quarters. She resided two doors down from the illustrious Hux himself along with Orienn and Triff Opan.

Sera found herself surrounded by elite, high-clearance individuals. Though much was kept from her wandering eyes and ears, she learned enough during the days following the heated conversation in Hux's office. He greeted her pleasantly, never acknowledging he'd pinned her to the ground like a ragdoll.

The soft bed sank as Sera sat cross legged, admiring the glory of limitless space outside her window. Stomach plummeting, Sera went over her task in her head ceaselessly. Find a wily Crel Marvet, secure an agreement, and disengage. Hux described it clinically, with no emotion. Though, Sera reminded herself of the long-lasting political ramifications for these actions she set out to accomplish. Whether she returned to her sector, her family would be irreparably tied to the First Order without their knowledge. A fate her father rebelled against.

"Knock, knock," Orienn popped his head in her bedroom.

"I've told you, Selys," Sera's back popped as she turned at her waist to look back at him. 'Saying 'knock' doesn't override _actually_ knocking."

"You're still mad," Orienn sighed.

"Am I still angry with Dr. Lyra for drugging me?"

"Yes?" Orienn stepped into the room. He fiddled with the hem of his uniform, tugging away the carefully threaded hem.

"Right," Sera nodded. "So I am still angry at you for the same reason."

"Being angry with me will only cause problems on Skopje," Orienn threw himself onto her bed like a whale diving in the ocean. Sera's pretzeled legs lost their shape as she flew up in the air.

" _Orienn_ ," Sera yelled. "Leave."

"Only if you come with me," He flipped on his stomach and tossed his legs back and forth. "Boss man wants to see you."

"I'm happy Hux demoted you to messenger but he can retrieve me himself," Sera pushed Orienn from the bed and he fell off with a dramatic yelp. Going anywhere alone with Orienn was out of the question. Especially since Sera hadn't confirmed with Hux that he had actually ordered Orienn to drug her. A sleek knife now lay permanently in her coat because of Orienn's stunt.

"So be it," Hux stood at the entrance of her bedroom. His eyes searched Sera's sprawled form and Orienn lying on the floor like a wounded animal. "Get out, Selys." He said it while looking directly at Sera.

"Oh, I see your game. This has happened multiple times now," Orienn feigned offense. "You want some time and I'm thirding."

"Leave," Sera sat up and pointed to the door. It was late and she'd only just returned from work. Researching Skopje was more grueling than she anticipated. Synthesizing five years of information she didn't know in a few days was overwhelming at best and insanity-inducing at worst.

"I wished to speak with you privately before we leave for Skopje," Hux stood under the doorframe, a safe distance from Sera on the bed.

"So you walked into my quarters too?" Sera said. " _Sir_."

"I heard Selys," Hux said lamely.

"Yes," Sera stood and readjusted her uniform. The clock at her bedside read one in the morning. The soft red blinking digits were out of place in the perfectly still confines of space. "He's loud."

She walked slowly up to Hux, trying to get past him. Looking up at him, she saw him swallow and step out of the way.

"It is more appropriate to speak outside your bedroom," Hux said behind Sera as they walked to her kitchen.

It was cozy, but spacious enough that they could remain a reasonable distance apart. A small refrigerator kept a myriad of food and drinks Sera never consumed. Not only had her appetite dissipated over the past week, there was a possibility Opan could attempt to tamper with her food. He could have clearance or the ability to get into her quarters.

"You pinned me to the ground, climbed on top of me, and interrogated me," Sera pulled a glass from her cabinets and filled it with water. She shoved it across the island at Hux. "We've moved past discomfort."

"I was testing your actions under extreme duress," Hux pushed the water away and Sera scowled. She hadn't poisoned the damn thing. "It is paramount you maintain loyal and tight-lipped in stressful situations."

Sera pulled the discarded glass to herself. Running her finger around its rim, it didn't ring like the China from her home. She turned and dropped the glass into the sink. It shattered and scraped against the stainless steel finish.

"Did I pass?" Sera leaned into the sink, watching the discarded water swirl down the drain.

"I would not have given you this task if you had not," Hux tapped his fingers impatiently against the island.

Sera wasn't of the opinion she'd passed. She prioritized her sector's interests over the First Order and insulted Hux to his face.

"Why are you here, Hux?" Sera turned and saw Hux moving from his spot at the island, ever closer to her. "It's one in the morning. You don't sleep. You need to sleep."

He stood beside her, prodigious compared to her stature in the close proximity. Sera focused on his greatcoat, feeling his eyes burning into her. He projected a scowl in the very way he stood. Sera need not look to know he wasn't pleased.

"My sleeping habits are not your concern," Hux said.

Sera groaned and turned away. "Just talk, I want to go to bed."

Hux was silent and Sera looked back over her shoulder at him. He stood still but his chest rose and fell erratically.

"I would like to continue our conversation cut short this afternoon," Hux said, stepping closer to Sera again.

"I've told you everything I know about Skopje," Sera whispered. Her throat dried like a frozen desert as she spoke.

"Not that conversation," Hux corrected softly, matching her tone. "The wordless conversation. May we discuss it?"

Sera leaned over the sink, letting her head hang. The chalkiness in her throat tasted like rocks lodged in her airways.

"As I am sure you are aware," Hux said, looking down at her. "Your official orders are almost at a close. You must make a decision."

"Whether or not to return home?" Sera nodded, turning to face him. "I am not sure I have a choice but to stay. You understand the serious political quandary I'm facing. I speak on behalf of my family regardless of how long I've been away. If it gets to my people that I made a trade deal on behalf of the First Order, it will align my family."

"I see nothing negative about that arrangement," Hux reached down and tangled a finger in her jacket sleeve like he'd done in his office before. His skin singed hers where it touched, like rough sand licked by the sea. "I do not foresee losing this war and it is wise to make accommodations for it."

"It's not my place to make those decisions," Sera ran a finger over his tangled in her sleeve. His gaze shot between their sudden physical affection and her eyes. "I don't rule the Remidian System."

"You will," Hux's voice struck deep with conviction, like he was certain of her accession. Like he had a personal stake in such things.

"Eventually," Sera mused. As long as Stiva was unable to lead a coup. Or worse, gain the honest trust of her people. The most dangerous portion of her desertion was the possibility of shifting tides during her tenure with the First Order. Though nothing of the sort had yet to occur, it didn't mean it couldn't or wouldn't.

"Aligning yourself with me will never disadvantage you," Hux stepped closer. His chest pushed against her side as he bent his head to speak to Sera. He pressed his lips against her ear as he spoke. "Need I make my intentions more plain?"

"Aligning with you?" Sera turned her head towards Hux. Her nose swiped the hair falling from his face. "You mean the First Order?"

"I am the First Order," Hux smirked, pulling Sera to fall into his chest. He clutched her around the waist, tugging tight on her shirt. The fabric seeped between his knuckles, he grasped so firmly. "Your people will be better for it, as will you. But they do not matter. Consider yourself first."

"Don't make me break your wrist, Hux," Sera heaved herself out of his arms. They fell at his side and he stretched his fingers from knuckles to fingertip. "I'm already risking my political future and family ties to make a trade deal because you can't fathom not murdering innocent beings for your own gain! Asking me to align myself with you, at the detriment of my people, at this moment, is the wrong move."

Sera stepped back to deescalate her emotions. To curb she was itching to do.

"Explain to me again how you made your rank being as willfully thick-headed as you are. How many people did you kill, fuck over, and utterly destroy to get where you are? I want nothing to do with your dirty politics that could corrupt my people." Her voice spilled out in a rough shout. "You make me sick."

"I see," Hux clutched his hands behind his back. His chin dropped slightly, looking away from Sera. "I misinterpreted our situation."

"There's nothing to misinterpret. I've made myself clear about my distaste for this task. And you come and ask me to officially support you and force my people to do the same? I understand what you're asking of me and I won't. I can't."

Sera threw her hands in the air. They fell down and hit her thighs with a loud clap. Her knees quaked and she sank down to a crouch beside the sink, hands dragging through her scalp, tugging on the roots of her hair. "I won't throw away everything for an opportunistic man like you. I avoided it once in Stiva, I can see the signs now. I saved you on Starkiller because I thought there was something worth saving. I was _wrong_. You mean nothing to me. Is that honest enough for you, General?"

"I understand, Princess," A vein at Hux's temple throbbed through his skin. "I request you check your speech in the presence of your Commanding Officer."

"I will not. You have no say in my sphere," Sera stood and adjusted her jacket that jostled out of place. "I do not want you to step foot anywhere near the Remidiam System. I refuse to renew my orders. If I have to spend the rest of my life ensuring neither you or the Resistance harm my people, I will. You're no different than them."

"I am nothing like them," Hux yelled, storming up to Sera. "I have worked my entire life to build this empire," He leaned down but it wasn't teasing like before, it was enraged. "I could not count how many people I killed to get here. How many people I ruined or 'utterly destroyed.' When we win this war, I will come for you. When I rule the galaxy, I will assassinate you and every last person who dared defy me. You will complete your task on Skopje, you will do it well, you will do it without further complaint. And when it is done, you will disappear and hope I never find you."

"And if I sabotage it?" Sera grit her teeth. The lines in Hux's face were further defined in his anger.

"I will kill you for espionage and burn Skopje to the ground."

"Excellent," Sera crossed her arms. "Now leave. I hope I don't see you after I leave."

"That will be difficult," Hux's voice settled to a dangerous simmer. "I am going with you."

"For what purpose?" Sera's chest heaved with the pressure of the everything just said between them. There was nothing that could bring them back to an amicable relationship. No crumbling planet or decimated warship could mend this.

"I am overseeing this mission," Hux walked slowly towards the exit. "I intend to see it through. Goodnight, Princess."


	7. Operational Mastermind

"Ready, Cupcake?" Orienn leaned against Sera's door on the ship in full gear. Sleek black armor hid under his court attire. His dress clothes were as vibrant and flamboyant as Orienn himself. Greens and pinks and yellows covered his outfit. Orienn smiled when he caught Sera staring. "How do I look?"

"Exactly like somebody from court," Sera crossed her arms over her dress. An oversized train trailed the piece, making potential combat nearly impossible. Sera tugged at the fabric of her dress to test the quality. She cursed at its lack of give. It was too well made to tear it up if needed. At least her gear was disguised under her dress. A knife Hux had given her hid in her arm and a blaster stuck to her side under the bell of her dress. "You look too at home in that ridiculous outfit."

"You just don't understand fashion. You walk around in training gear or a uniform all the time," Orienn flicked her stomach tightened by a corset. "Ah, who am I kidding, you look good. Hux'll love it. He had this dress special made, you know."

"Hux wants to assassinate me," Sera pulled at her perfectly placed hair. She'd demanded something up and out of her face. Wayward hair during combat wasn't ideal and she was already disadvantaged with her intricate dress. Pins topped with delicate flowers pricked her scalp and she ripped them from place, throwing them on the floor.

Orienn barked a laugh and wiped away fake tears. "You're hilarious."

"You're blind if you don't see how much he despises me," Sera tugged at the corset, repositioning it around her hips. The tightened ribbons felt like bonafied torture devices, tugging at parts of her waist she couldn't remember having before.

"Right - right," Orienn waved her away and pulled her through the door. "Mr. Assassination is looking for you."

"I'm shocked he didn't just walk into my quarters again," Sera held the dagger tight in her sleeve. The ruffles at the hem gave cover to the weapon.

"I think that traumatized him enough once," Orienn dragged Sera by the wrist through the halls of the ship. Their landing was scheduled in two hours but Hux wanted to land earlier to ensure any potential threats were caught off guard. "He came out of your room looking like he'd been shot."

Sera's stomach tumbled at the thought of seeing Hux again. They had yet to speak since their argument the other day. The rabid look in his eye remained a torment and a reminder that General Hux was more dangerous that he appeared. Sera was nothing but a tool and would remain that way in his eyes.

"Actually," Orienn tapped his finger on his lips. "What exactly did you do to him to make him look so miserable all of a sudden?"

"I didn't _do_ anything to him," Sera's heels clicked against the floor, legs wobbling as she walked, fighting with the long forgotten shoe choice.

Orienn stopped, sending Sera tumbling into him. He spun and pointed right between Sera's eyes. Makeup moved uncomfortably under his touch.

"You rejected him," He covered his eyes with his hands whispering 'no' over and over again. "Why would you do that?" Orienn turned away, slamming his palm into his temple.

Sera's mouth fell open at his unhinged display. If anything, Sera enraged Hux, not unnerved or upset him. No reasonable person would assume a threat of assassination was anything less than that; a threat.

Hux stepped out of an office to their left. The anger in his face from the other day no longer presented itself. He simply looked tired with his sunken eyes and sallow skin.

"May I speak with you?" Hux pushed Orienn out of the way. He tumbled forward and hurried away mumbling about big-headed, clueless idiots.

Hux pointed into the room from which he'd just appeared.

Sera nodded, making strong eye contact as she walked past him into the room. Watching his eyes was the only way to know what Hux intended to do. His body language gave little away, but the look at his mind through his eyes was more telling than a cocked head or stiff back could ever be.

The designated room was a small parlor with a desk and oversized, plush chair.

"I am closing the door because I need to show you something," Hux explained as the door creaked. "Privately, preferably."

He wore his standard uniform. It didn't appear likely he'd be joining her and Orienn tonight with Marvet. Sera wondered what he would look like in clothing like Orienn wore. She'd never seen him in anything other than black.

Sera scowled and stepped towards the chair. It was better lit in this room and she examined her dress, picking at ruffles and ribbons. It was even gaudier under direct scrutiny.

"I can't fight in this," Sera rubbed her hands over the constricting corset. Each groove of her gear underneath could be felt but not seen. The constricting ties of the dress made her breath shallow, burning her throat. "This looks like what my mother made me wear when she saw through the palace cameras that I was wearing gear instead of motherly approved frills."

"It comes off," Hux walked behind her, pointing to the side of the dress where a loose seam lay almost unnoticeable in the sea of frills.

"Excuse me?" Sera spun. The massive bell of the dress smacked Hux's legs.

"What I meant to express was that it tears easily at the side, should the need arise for you to fight," Hux dragged the pad of his index finger over the seam under her arm. Sera followed the path of his hand carefully. "May I show you?"

Hux bent down, hand on her waist, face across from hers. He looked to her, unsure.

"Are you going to assassinate me before I can botch this trade deal?" Sera gripped the knife at her wrist. The stinging cold of the metal pushed into her skin.

"I overreacted when I spoke with you," Hux dropped his hand and stepped back, remembering her previous rejection. "I have no desire to assassinate you."

"But you would if it was necessary," Sera deadpanned. Admitting his overreaction was not synonymous with an apology and Sera grew tired of this unhinged pattern they'd developed.

"Yes," Hux affirmed.

"Wonderful," Sera pushed Hux's hand from her side. He wore no gloves and her skin burned as she wrapped her fingers in his.

She dropped her hold and fumbled with the dress crease on her own. With a rough tug, the dress fell to the side, slipping down her form fitting gear and pooling in a circle at her feet. Part of the dress caught the blaster attached to her thigh and she shimmied it free.

Hux sighed and looked towards the desk on the other side of the room.

The massive weight of the dress relieved, Sera stretched her arms up. Cracks rippled up her back as she breathed in.

"We'll be landing soon," Hux cleared his throat and shot a glance at Sera. His eyes trailed from head to toe and back. When he caught himself, he looked to the door. "You may want to -"

"I'll put the dress back on," Sera said, feeling pressure in her chest from his stare.

Reaching down, she pulled the dress up her body, mourning her freedom of movement. With a little fiddling, Sera reattached the side of the dress and flattened it down. The weight of her weapons against her body and the knowledge she could remove the monstrosity if needed soothed her.

"I could have taken the dress off in the hall," Sera played with the dagger at her wrist. "I'm wearing gear."

"I assumed privacy was ideal," Hux walked towards the door to push it open.

"I was with you," Sera shook her head, unsure how his presence constituted any form of privacy. "Anyway, I'm ready. I just want to get this done with."

"Of course," Hux followed Sera as she headed down the hall to the exit door.

The ship rattled as it began its descent onto Skopje.

* * *

The glistening green of Marvet's home came into view as they landed. Blades of grass lifted into the air, encircling the ship as it came down.

His mansion was downright palatial. Sprawling gardens lined the entire length of the home, bringing to life the entirely white and golden exterior.

"Hypocrites," Sera found it so considering the way the native population lived on the planet. Wondering how they felt of Marvet, Hux came to her side.

"Be safe. We'll be with you the entire time," He nodded to the exit as the doors slid open. A large landing bridge hit the grass, pulling up the mud from under the soil.

Sera whispered her thanks before stepped down the bridge.

"I want access to every cam within a fifty mile radius," Hux turned to his accompanying officer. "I want to see Landal from every camera in this place. We should never lose sight of her. Notify me if anything enters or leaves the planet's airspace."

Her heels stuck in the grates of the bridge but she kept her face neutral, hoping the bell of her skirt would cover her struggling legs.

"Princess!" Marvet hurried to Sera's side, holding out an arm that Sera willingly accepted. "You're early. I'm afraid we aren't completely ready for you. That's a beautiful ship you've got there. First Order made?"

Marvet was a pudgy sort of man. Shorter than Sera and thrice as wide. He wore an ill-fitting suit, seemingly sewn at odd angles and places. His giant moustache bounced as he rambled about the current state of Skopje and his mining operation.

"I must have misremembered our meeting time," Sera looked down at him, raising her chin. Intentionally ignoring his First Order comment, she continued. "I apologize."

"Oh no," Marvet waved his hands. "Don't apologize to me, Princess. The mistake was certainly ours. And I must say, you are as stunning as you ever were. Your looks are unparalleled in this system."

"You're too kind to me, Marvet," Sera feigned modesty. "Your smooth tongue and legendary charm hasn't changed."

Orienn stepped up beside Sera, nodding a head to Marvet. "Orienn Selys, at your service."

Marvet smiled. "Any friend of the Princess is welcome here, of course."

"Glad to hear it," Orienn wrapped an arm around his middle and bowed deeply to Sera before hurrying up the stairs of Marvet's home. A myriad of guards lined the walkway to the entrance, each wielding blasters at their side. Orienn leapt before the final guard and flicked his nose. The man only watched Orienn with a frown.

Sera leaned down to Marvet like they were sharing a personal joke. "Orienn is a bit eccentric at times."

"Oh, he's no bother," Marvet tugged at Sera's arm to make her move towards the steps. "I assure you, he is as welcome as you. Eccentricities and all."

Sera heard the engines of the ship whir as it took off. Begging Hux knew what he was doing, Sera moved towards the entrance on Marvet's arm.

"May I call you Crel?" Sera blinked in shock as they entered the mansion. Lavish silks and tapestries lined the entrance hall. Vibrant red and purple smoke wafted through the space, lingering near the ceiling like a brewing storm.

"You can call me whatever you'd like, Princess," Marvet followed her gaze. "The smoke is supposed to soothe and relax the mind and body. It's a stressful job, mining an entire planet."

"I'd imagine so. With the amount of responsibility on your shoulders, relaxation must be critical." Sera took the time to memorize everything affronting her senses. This was information she needed to wade through the find what Marvet was attempting to distract her from. The extravagant front held deeper secrets he wanted to hide. "Though, I hope you don't find it too strenuous. We will gladly send extra assistance, if it would help you in any way."

"It depends what you're offering, Princess," Marvet guided her into a grand sitting room. "But I must warn you, I am a master negotiator."

"Exemplary if my understanding is correct," Sera smiled down at him. "You could haggle the boots off a traveler."

Marvet tossed his head back in raucous laughter. "You were always the charmer of your family."

Plush couches lined the walls, one of which Orienn already lounged in, one foot dangling off the side. His arms and legs splayed wide, Sera noticed the knife in his palm. Looking to Marvet, he seemed overcome with her presence in his home, he failed to notice Orienn's weapon.

"And you, the mastermind behind this entire operation," Sera took the opportunity to spin, taking notice of every minute detail in the room. Doors laid in the middle of each wall, all closed except their entrance. Sera looked for any obvious cameras and found none, though she was certain they were present. The knowledge that Hux was watching both calmed and exhilarated her.

Marvet blinked rapidly and offered for Sera to take a seat. He grabbed her hand to help her sit and Sera noted the slight quaver in his fingers. Deciding against mentioning it and embarrassing him, she gave a demure smile and motioned for him to relax across from her.

As they settled in, Orienn hopped up from his couch and began wandering the room. Opening drawers and peeking in vases, he circled the space.

"Is your friend alright?" Marvet craned his neck to follow Orienn's path behind him.

"Quite alright," Sera cleared her throat to regain his attention. His head snapped back with a shocked look on his face.

"Apologies," Marvet ran a puffy hand over his face. "I'm not accustomed to such prolific guests. Your family doesn't make it this way often."

Sera raised a brow.

"Sorry," Marvet repeated. "I mean no offense, Princess."

"Perhaps a change of subject is appropriate," Sera crossed her legs, leaning on her thigh towards Marvet. Her blaster pressed against her skin, reminding her she was relatively safe. "Tell me how you find Skopje, Crel. It's been some time since I've gotten news of my region."

The hours scouring for information on Skopje gave her everything she needed to know but she wanted to hear it from his lips. His mouth opened and closed with uncertainty.

Looking back towards Orienn, Marvet leaned in as Sera had done.

"Can I speak to you in your First Order role, not as a representative of your family?"

"I can't be both?" Sera cocked her head and lose hairs dropped over her eyes. Now regretting discarding the pins on the ship, she pushed them away with a swipe of her finger. The gentle movement would reinforce the non-threatening demeanor she nursed.

"Not for this, no." Marvet rung his hands in his lap.

"Alright, then speak freely," Sera leaned towards the chair, straightening her back. "I will listen on behalf of the Order."

Marvet searched the room. A single guard stood positioned at the door and Marvet shooed him away with a flick of the wrist. The guard made a rushed about turn and closed the doors as he exited.

"We're experiencing," Marvet pondered his next statement, "Financial difficulties."

Sera relaxed the muscles in her face, feigning surprise. "I'm sorry to hear it. I had no idea you were experiencing this."

"Well," Marvet pursed his lips. "Your family has other priorities at the moment. With the First Order rising so rapidly and the Resistance in turn, they look outwards. My lowly planet has been forgotten. The flow of monetary support is gone. We are running on almost nothing which is why I was ecstatic when you reached out about a meeting."

The window behind Marvet revealed the setting sun. Light blinded Sera as she strained to focus on every one of his movements. Marvet looked like nothing but a dark outline of a man with shocks of light illuminating minute regions of his face.

"The First Order would be prepared to fully assist you in any monetary or technological needs you may have," Sera smiled softly, encouraging his agreement.

"That sounds great, Princess," Marvet looked over to Orienn who now had his head poked out of one of the doors. "But what's the price?

"Thirty five percent of your gross profit before taxation is applied," Sera said sweetly. Her family's taxation structure was effective in maintaining the region, but cut deep into men like Marvet.

"Thirty five percent?" Marvet whistled his disapproval. "That's far too much. We're barely surviving."

"Consider the long term benefits of a trade agreement," Sera pulled a slip of rolled paper from her sleeve, handing it to Marvet. "With the advanced mining technology we will provide you, your productivity will increase by nearly a thousand percent a quarter. The difference in profit would be unnoticeable because of your sudden increase in output."

Marvet unrolled the paper, examining the descriptions of the First Order technology Sera offered. His eyes shot back and forth as he drank in the opportunity.

"Ten percent." He looked up from the paper, wide eyed.

The greed was getting to him, Sera realized. He was a gluttonous man in every way.

Placing a relaxed hand under her chin, she studied him. His gaze never left hers. Marvet was desperate to take from the First Order but clearly not savvy enough to care about the Order's return on their investment.

"Twenty five," Sera gave him an uncertain shrug like she didn't have him irreparably in her clutches. Bits of hair were now tumbling from their hold and Sera locked them behind her ear.

"Fifteen," He shot back without thought.

"Twenty," Sera's heart raced at their clipped negotiations.

"Seventeen," Marvet held up his hands. "That's my final offer. Any higher and I walk."

Sera pretended to scrutinize him. His beady eyes sang his song of desperation.

"Seventeen is a wonderful compromise," Sera smiled broadly as she stood to hold a hand out to Marvet. "The First Order wholeheartedly accepts your proposal."

Marvet looked from her outstretched hand to her face in horror.

"Shaking your hand feels very untoward, Princess," Marvet instead bowed and apologized.

Sera pulled her hand back and clasped them in front of her.

"I understand, Crel," Sera motioned to Orienn to join them. "Orienn has drafted an agreement. Please take your time looking over the final terms. He will of course update it to include your final proposal."

"I think I would like the night to look over the terms before I sign. I like to sleep before finalizing such things," Marvet pulled the offered datapad from Orienn. "You're welcome to stay the night. I have a wing for your family, Princess. It's large enough for both of you. I'll have somebody show you the way."

Staying the night broke her plan of action with Hux to disengage as soon as the deal was proctored. Though in a way, her role was not complete until Marvet signed the agreement.

Orienn came up beside Sera to whisper, "Should we?"

"Just stay with me," Sera felt the sting in her throat saying it. She still couldn't trust Orienn to the extent she would prefer in her current situation.

"Of course," Orienn placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll see you both bright and early in the morning," Marvet called as he hurried from the room, datapad in hand.

"Did he banish us?" Orienn shook his head in disbelief.

"He seems nervous," Sera hurried to the door to watch Marvet scurry through a set of hidden doors in the wall. Her dress dragged the edge of a rug along with her and she kicked it away.

"Is he worried your parents will find out?"

"He isn't a child sneaking out at night," Sera looked back at Orienn who pulled out another datapad from his coat. "He's not concerned about the King and Queen. He has nearly complete autonomy on the planet. I don't understand."

"Maybe that's exactly why he's scared," Orienn reached her side and offered her the crook of his arm. "You could be the first representative from the family in years."

A few guards rounded the corner and motioned for them to follow. They stood tall and proud as if this was their sole goal in life; to navigate through the palace for royals.

As they walked, Sera felt a sudden tension in the air. The guards walked uncomfortably, holding onto the hilt of their blasters. A chill ran through the hall and Sera looked behind her, feeling more guards suddenly on their tail.

"Orienn," Sera hissed. Looking towards him, he already had a blaster in his hand aimed at the head of the guard directly in front of them.

A loud bang echoed through the hall and Sera dodged a blaster shot from behind her. The vase beside her head shattered, sending shards of ceramic through the air.

Tearing the dagger from her wrist she heaved it at the guard behind them with his weapon in the air, landing directly over his heart. A splotch of blood decorated his pristine white uniform as he toppled forward, landing on the floor.

Sera ripped the dress at the side, pulling it from herself. The material came free and she jumped out of the bell, yanking free the blaster on her thigh. Kicking her shoes away, one guard tripped over the wayward footwear.

"That piece of trash double-crossed us," Orienn yelled as he shot down the line of guards. His court outfit hang half abandoned on his arm, revealing the tactical gear below.

"Thank you, Orienn," Sera shot into the growing crowd of guards. The pools of white only grew as they closed in.

Heaving the barrel of the blaster against the head of a guard, he stumbled to the side and Sera used his momentum to send him tumbling into the line of guards. As they regained their bearings, she shot as many people as manageable.

Blood and bodies littered the hall. Every valuable item in the walkway was destroyed. Thousands of pieces of ceramic covered the floor, glass from mirrors stuck to clothing and skin, and sweat made a slippery sheen across the space.

A guard swung a punch at Sera. She grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm. After a crack and a scream, she kicked him to the floor, discarding of him executioner style.

Blood splattered her armor and face like a child's painting. Spitting it from her mouth, she lunged at two guards moving to push her to the ground. Hitting one around the waist, she pushed him back and wrapped her angle around his, knocking him down.

The other guard reached for her and Sera grabbed his neck with her free hand. He stumbled towards her as she heaved him. The last thing she saw before he fell was the shock in his eyes as her blaster shot pierced through his stomach.

Somebody hit her in the head from behind and she cascaded forward, barely staying on two feet. Sera spun to meet her attacked and a myriad of hands wrapped around her waist, holding her in place.

"Let go of me," Sera yelled as the laid her on her stomach. Her face pushed hard into the blood-soaked rug. Shards of glass embedded in her cheek and she growled at the pain. "You're committing high treason."

"Not by our understanding," A burly guard hissed as he locked electrified handcuffs around her wrists and ankles.

Orienn screamed similar sentiments as they got him on the ground too. Sera's neck creaked as she looked up at Orienn also on the floor. A deep gash crossed from his temple to his chin. He looked up at Sera, fury raging in his gaze like he'd burn the planet down if he made it out alive. Sera had never seen such unbridled hatred on his face and she realized it was directed over her shoulder.

"Excellent!" Marvet called from behind Sera. "Spin her around so I can see her."

The guards handling Sera pulled her by the hair to a kneeling position. Kicking her thighs, they forced her to face Marvet.

"I'll have you executed for this," Sera's chest heaved as she stared up at the jovial clown lauding over her. His goofy attire and oversized mustache now looked menacing instead of ridiculous. He was clearly a madman. "Who put you up to this? _Tell me_!"

"Oh," Marvet reached out a toe and poked at the skin over Sera's heart. He wobbled and pulled his leg back. "You already know, don't you?"

"Yes," Sera pulled against her constraints and a vicious shock coursed from her toes to the tip of her head. Her bones rattled with the impact and her spine rang with pressure. "What did he offer you? Money? A pardon?"

"You don't already know?" Marvet shook his head and crossed his arms, disappointed in her. "With all those First Order resources at your disposal you couldn't figure out what I _want_?"

"No." Blood slipped down Sera's lip onto the rug under her.

"Why don't you ask him yourself when you see him? Cut the feeds. I know General Hux is watching her," Marvet snapped at his guards to move. "I'm sure my patron is eager to see you, Princess. It's certainly been a while."

Marvet patted his hands against his stomach, looking proud of his previous act. As if Sera's life was suddenly in his malicious clutches.

"Quit the dramatics," Sera spat blood at his feet. "Take me to Stiva."


	8. The Castaway Princess

It was chillier in the ship, bereft of Landal's presence. Hux was unsure whether it was an external or internal chill as it all felt the same to him. He walked casually to the command room thermometer, running a gloved finger over the screen. It illuminated under his touch. The temperature hadn't shifted since Landal departed. With a frown, Hux stepped towards the massive screen projected a perfect view of Marvet's sitting room.

Landal looked enthralled in whatever mundanity bled from Marvet's mouth. Her fingers ran over her lips and her eyes illuminated with deceptive interest. Selys, on the other hand, moved through the room, swiping across surfaces and opening drawers. Obviously looking for weapons or other items he may be interested in finding.

As they stood and spoke near the exit, Hux frowned at Sera's minutely concerned look. Soft lines formed around her eyes and she bit her lip, turning to Selys as Marvet slipped away.

Hux momentarily forgot the purpose of the cameras and focused on the way Sera's dress clung to her waist and the neckline revealed more skin than a uniform or training outfit. Her chest fluttered as she breathed uneasily.

When Hux returned to the present, the screen was in pandemonium.

From the moment the initial blaster shot rang in Marvet's home, Hux paced, fixated on the screen. Guards outnumbered Landal and Selys fifty to one. How they'd materialized, Hux was flummoxed. He'd meticulously scanned the entire home and surrounding area. Nothing explained the dozens of guards' sudden materialization.

Sera tore her dress and Hux swallowed at the sight. The delicate coloring of the piece gave way to the deep black of her tactical gear. She looked like an untouched rock in a snowstorm.

Mindless, armed lackeys encircled her and Selys in a constricting hallway. Assuming Skopje has less than favorable weapons training, Landal was in more danger than she would be otherwise.

A hundred idiots with blasters surrounded her. They could kill her accidentally instead of capture her, which appeared their intent.

Landal swung the barrel of her blaster into a guards face and Hux's stomach sank. He turned, yelling at the officer closest to him. They paid no mind as they worked, content with the current deathly calm in the command room.

"What are you doing?" His voice shuttered as his bellowed. A previously disinterested officer looked up with wide eyes, unnerved with Hux's raised voice. He leaned back, physically separating himself from Hux's budding, uncharacteristic wrath. "Land the damn ship. _Now_!"

"Yes, sir," The officer sank into himself as he began the landing procedure.

Engines whirred as they sank against towards the dewy grass of Skopje.

"Should I prepare the troopers for you, sir?" Another officer called from the doorway, having run towards the commotion at command. "I can have them ready in two minutes."

"Do it," Hux looked back at the screen. "Alert me when they're ready. I am going with them."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, sir? We have more than enough troopers to handle this." The officer gripping the door frame looked down at the chilling stare he received as Hux glared back at him.

"I don't recall requesting your opinion of my actions," Hux pulled his blaster from his side. "Get my troopers ready and do not question me again."

"Yes, sir," He hurried from the door, head held low, avoiding Hux's gaze.

Hux turned back to the video feed, blaster ready in hand. Landal shoved a guard to the ground, discarding of him before Marvet's men overpowered her. They got her to the floor and Hux slammed his hand against the window, sending an ache through his palm and wrist. He looked curiously at his own hand as if it acted on its own accord. He couldn't remember deciding to act out so suddenly.

He shook away the pain and looked back to the feed. Marvet stood over Landal and she spat at his feet. Hux smiled softly and swallowed, focusing on her vibrant look of defiance. Shackled in the hands of an enemy, Landal remained obstinate.

The screen flickered and Hux frowned.

"They cut the cams," Hux stepped back. The screen flashed bright and fell to black like a flash of lightning in the night. "Recover it."

The ship settled on the grass before Marvet's home and Hux took in the scene. Everything outside the ship remained still. No sudden fire assaulted the ship from any direction as he'd anticipated. Nobody noticed his arrival at all. If he weren't so entrenched in retrieving Landal, he'd be offended.

Nothing on the exterior of the mansion reflected the struggle in its belly. Lights shone through the windows in the rising night and nocturnal creatures hurried around the landed ship.

Nothing looked strange beyond the ship itself in the calm of the night.

"I can't recover the signal." An officer to his right called, typing frantically at his station. "I need time to figure out what they did."

"We don't have time," Hux waved the officer away and hurried into the hall. A line of troopers stood at attention, waiting for his cue. They waited silently, facing the exit. Nearly two hundred of them filled the space. Hux reasoned that they could recover Landal with twice as many exceptionally trained soldiers. Marvet couldn't get far without Hux noticing. He _wouldn't_ get far because Hux would find him. "Head out and clear the exterior. When you've done so, enter the house, make sure you search every room."

The door hissed open, sinking into the grass. Armor clanked as his men jogged down the ramp, blasters aloft, swiping side to side to subdue any threat.

No shots rang like bells from the house and the troopers split up, some weaving behind the home, others entering through the front door.

Hux raised his blaster and hurried after them. In his rush, he'd forgotten any form of protective gear but there was no to return. It could take minutes when he had only seconds. The longer Landal remained in Marvet's hands, the more injury he could inflict.

A gentle breeze tickled his face as he followed the troopers into the house. Hux blinked and coughed at the ridiculous colored smoke clinging to the ceiling. He took a precious moment to look up, wondering if it was noxious in any way. Deciding it didn't matter in the current situation, he hurried through the halls, following the path he'd watched Landal walk.

When he landed in the hallway where the chaotic firefight transpired, it looked like a festering war zone. Dozens of white-clad bodies littered the floor, broken and bleeding in a dozen different ways.

Hux looked on proudly, pleased Landal discarded so many before going down herself.

Warm blood swam between bodies and shattered glass, slipped over Hux's polished boots, and snaking farther down the hall. The gaudy rugs soaked up the blood, staining them beyond repair.

Hux bent down, retrieving Landal's regulation First Order blaster beside the discarded dress and locked it against his hip. He sighed, telling himself he would return it to her the moment he got her back.

"Sir?" Hux's comm unit buzzed in his ear at the transmission. "A ship is leaving Skopje airspace. It's Marvet's."

"Tell the troopers to return to the ship," Hux hurried down the hall, holding the comm unit in place as he ran. "They have one minute to return or we leave without them."

"Understood, sir."

The comm unit went dead and Hux heaved open the front doors, bursting out into the dying light. His black ship sat ready against the canvas of darkness. It was only noticeable due to the soft lights of the command room.

Hux hurried down the stairs and rushed towards the ramp. Troopers flooded onto the ship in packs. When his officer confirmed for him all hand returned, he turned to look at the home. It shone brightly with light, mocking him.

"Burn it to the ground," Hux ordered into his comm. Before his hand fell to his side once more, a massive shot like a shooting star bellowed in the night. The hit landing in the entrance hall of the home. With a violent shake, it went up in flames. The colored smoke mingled with the flames, turning them purple as they licked the night air.

Without another glance, Hux entered the ship, ordering them to follow Marvet. He would recover Landal alive, no matter the cost.

* * *

Rough material gagged Sera as the guard shoved it in her mouth and tied it at the nape of her neck. She screamed into the gag, pulling hard at the cuffs shocking her numb. What little she still felt of her body was the gentle tingling in her fingers and toes. In the name of defiance, she smacked her head against the guard securing her restraints. He yelped and fell down on his backside, dazed.

Orienn sat across from her, equally restrained, and equally as furious. The whites of his eyes gleamed red from screaming so desperately, tears stained his lids. The crimson coloring created an eerie effect as it mixed with the blood streaming down his face, sticking to his eyelashes before falling to the floor.

"You're intolerable. We're all glad you left," Marvet crossed his arms. His hair fell from place and his lip twitched impatiently. "Your mistake was coming back."

It was a threat and promise. Their true business deal that Sera signed without consent.

Sera shook her head, dislodging the gag enough to speak audibly.

"You honestly thought I would never come back?" Sera's jaw tightened, sending spasms through her neck. The gag pulled against her chin, making it ache.

"We hoped," Marvet shooed the guard leaning down at Sera's side.

"You're a corrupt, bankrupt criminal with a failing enterprise," Sera kept her eyes on his, driving her point home, even with her muddled speech from the gag. "It's no wonder my family doesn't send you money anymore. You squander it on luxuries and women. You're a waste of space, a leech, a _traitor_."

"I didn't abandon my people to join a terrorist organization," Marvet smiled, clasping his hands over his stomach. "That was you."

"Treasonist," Sera spat.

Rolling his eyes like a petulant child, Marvet snapped at a guard to tighten the knot holding the gag in place. The man bent down, ensuring he never touched Sera as he redid the knots.

The material dug into the gentle skin at her mouth, burning as it shifted. But the pressing concern was a cut bleeding through her gear on her arm. A pulsing pain cut deep into her consciousness, bargaining with her about maintaining consciousness. Making a downward swipe with her eyes, Sera assessed the damage. The cut was small but deep, nearly hitting the bone.

"Guard the doors. We don't want them getting out." With a shake of his head, Marvet walked from the room, moving towards another part of the transport ship.

Sera examined her prison as the guards made their way to the door. The ship wasn't modern. It was a least fifteen years old by the rust on the walls and outdated design on the room. Perhaps Stiva offered him better ships along with mining equipment, Sera mused.

As the guards exited and locked the door, they fell into complete darkness.

She pulled her knees to herself, hanging her locked hands over her legs. Slight shocks tickled her skin as she moved but it felt nice to relax her arms, and the wound smoldering there.

Orienn still fought against the restraints, his screams subdued by the cloth in his mouth. He began a continuing pattern; kicking his legs, he screamed as he was shocked, then fell over, only to try again with his arms.

Sera closed her eyes, considering her options. There was little she could anticipate without knowing where they were taking her. The room had no windows as the door remained sealed. All she knew was she would come face to face with Stiva for the first time in five years.

She closed her eyes with a sigh, wondering how she would get herself out of this. Hux wouldn't bother saving her. It was all up to her and Selys. He was probably halfway back to base by now.

Sera pulled her good elbow to her mouth and used the point of it to tug at the gag. It moved at her neck, tickling the soft hairs at the nape of her neck. She shivered and continued working.

Slowly, the cloth shifted enough so she could speak. Marvet and his men weren't adept at containing prisoners.

"Orienn," She whispered. He continued his struggle unceasingly. The sudden spurts of light made Sera's head pound and eyes develop pops of white. " _Orienn_!"

The singular source of light in the room was the scraggly shocks of electricity illuminating Orienn's face in eerie blue as he struggled.

His glassy eyes focused as his head shot to Sera. They were in darkness again. He had stopped struggling and grunted to convey his focus.

"So I'm Orienn now?" He said airily. His gag hung at his neck, having slipped down during his struggle.

"Shut up," Sera scooted towards him, cringing as small shocks assaulted her wrists and ankles. "We're on our own. We need to find a way out."

"Why?" Orienn asked, sounding genuinely confused. "Hux'll get us."

"No, he won't," Sera moved beside Orienn, grazing his arm with hers to ground them both. Regardless of her personal concerns with Selys, he was a calming presence. The only presence. "He doesn't know where we are. And if he does, he won't waste resources to get us back."

"For apparently being so smart you're a _fucking_ idiot," Orienn growled. His teeth ground as he scowled. "I'm sick of this shit with you and Hux."

"Orienn!" Sera screamed. The sound echoed off the rusting walls. "Now is not the time for this."

"No," He tried to hold up a hand and hissed as the restraints shocked him. "It is the perfect time because we're stuck in here until they get us wherever the fuck they're taking us."

Sera dropped her head between her quaking knees, soaking in the pressure of the darkness. Her eyes assimilated and Orienn's outline remained a constant reminder at her side that she wasn't alone, even if it had to be with somebody like him. She was a prisoner of war but at least she wasn't isolated. This set up tipped heavily in her favor. Marvet wasn't smart leaving two high ranking First Order prisoners in the same room on the same ship. If Selys was telling the truth, and Hux was looking for them, her and Selys in the same room made Hux's task exponentially simpler.

"Fine," Sera turned her head to look his direction, resting her cheek on her knees. "Say your piece. Wasting energy on an escape attempt right now is useless since we can't get out of these cuffs. And I don't think I have the strength to stage a mutiny."

"Thank you," Orienn said triumphantly. "Now listen to me because I am not going to repeat myself."

"Okay," Sera whispered, feeling the wetness of blood falling to the floor from her side. "I'll listen well."

"I want to get a few things cleared up," Orienn paused, contemplating his next statement. "First, Hux asked me to knock you out to get you to medbay to heal. He knew you wouldn't go if we just asked and he wanted you healthy. He had to make you do it."

"What a healthy and appropriate way to engage coworkers," Sera spat.

"What does that tell you?" Orienn said conversationally, ignoring her quip.

"An injured soldier shouldn't be on the bridge."

"No, you-" Orienn ran his hands over his face. "Let's go back farther. Hux convinced Snoke not to kill you. He convinced Snoke to keep you around all while hiding his real motives from a powerful force user, putting himself at risk. What does that tell you?"

"He saw my saving his life on Starkiller as a debt and he repaid it."

" _Maker_ ," Orienn dropped to the floor like a dramatic, discarded ragdoll. His back hit the steel floor with a hard thud and he groaned. Somehow he was still expressive with his legs and arms restrained. "Okay, how about this? Hux looked you in the eye and as good as proposed to you; putting everything on the line to ask you to be with him. What does that tell you?"

"I have political clout," Sera balled her fists and shoved them into her eyes. Something on the ship was irritating her eyes, drying them. "He's just like Stiva."

Sera watched Orienn's dark form sulk, wondering how he knew what transpired between herself and Hux days before. It felt like eons somehow slipped by. Besides, her disagreement with Hux was irrelevant to their current situation.

"Ren sees it too, you know," Orienn sighed, ignoring her comment equating Hux to their kidnapper just as he'd done earlier. "He's using you as a weapon against Hux. I promise you, General dearest is beside himself right now."

"He's not," Sera swallowed, feeling an acute disappointment in Hux that stung her heart. Her stomach felt like it was folding in on itself continuously like a raging ocean storm. The discomfort was either hunger pains or something emotionally charged. It had to be hunger, she couldn't admit the latter.

He is," Orienn looked up at the peeling pieces of steel on the ceiling. Sadness from his voice wrapped around Sera, stringing her along through the conversation. "Hux will burn the galaxy down to find you. I swear it."

A chill circled the room as Sera's throat dried at the sudden shift. It was then she realized the hush of her surroundings. The only sounds were their harsh breathing and their shuffling as they moved.

"The way he looks at you," Orienn continued, lost in his own thought, as if he were saying them in his head. "It's unmistakable."

"Why?" Sera laid down carefully beside Orienn on the floor. The wetness on the ground seeped into her matted hair and clung to her scalp, creating knots of hair and blood.

"You're already a legend," Orienn turned his head to look at Sera in the dark, even if they could only see the whites of the others' eyes. "They're all calling you the Castaway Princess."

"I don't care," Sera turned to her side, shuffling to get comfortable in her restraints. With everything plaguing her life, stupid nicknames were the least of her concerns.

"I know," Orienn laughed. "As for Hux, you need to actually talk to him. But if I guessed, it's because you showed him a brutal kindness when you saved him on Starkiller. You were the only one to think to look for him. That's the sort of gesture that resonates with him. And believe me, not many would."

"I didn't do it because it was him specifically," Sera shivered. "I did it because we needed a leader like him in such as awful situation. I didn't think anybody could fill the role like Hux. Those old Imperial captains just don't have it in them."

"But -" Orienn led her forward.

"But I developed - _feelings_ \- that aren't appropriate to feel for your superior," Sera swallowed at the admission. "I couldn't let it progress. I couldn't give myself the opportunity to -"

"Get up!" The door flew open and a pack of guards blocked their escape. "We're here."

The sudden commotion sent Sera and Orienn into a frenzy of movement. Harangued by the piercing light, Sera used her arms to block her eyes as she struggled to stand. As she was halfway up, a guard grabbed her arm, digging in hard, and pulled her to a standing position.

Sera stepped over her own feet as the guard shoved her forward. Growling at his push, Sera regained her balance and held her head high.

Unsure which position she was being held for made her raise her chin and straighten her back. Whether she was captured under the guise of Princess, First Order officer, or both, she'd do justice to each in her demeanor. Hux would never approve of an imprisoned officer showing anything less than strength and poise in the face of turmoil.

They walked through the ship, Rusted scraps of metal littered the floor, peeling and curling in on themselves. Black ichor seeped down the walls like coagulated blood from a festering wound.

Hux could have easily obliterated the piece of trash ship, ensuring no First Order officer was captured, but he hadn't, and it elicited a flame of hope in her heart and mind. Perhaps Orienn was correct and Hux really was coming to find them.

The guard hauling Sera across the ship dug his nails into the skin of her hand. Her glove was in shambles, exposing slivers of flesh ripe for mutilation.

Sera ripped her arms away and yelped at the rippling shock of electricity. The guard laughed and grabbed her by the arm, locking his hand in place.

"If you don't think I'll execute you personally when this is done," Sera said pleasantly as if they shared a lighthearted conversation over dinner, "You're wrong." Her tone shifted as she finished her sentence; moving from dinner party to covert assassination attempt.

"Still threatening us?" the guard scoffed, knocking Sera to the side so her chains clipped her skin again. This time Sera didn't yell, anticipating the pain after her jab. "You have no idea what's been happening these past five years, do you?"

"I don't share state secrets with pawns," Sera blinked hard as fluorescent lights illuminated above her, creating speckles of white in her vision.

They entered the exit bay. The drawbridge hissed as it opened wide.

This time Sera did scream and struggle.

Her family home, in all its glory, stood opulent as ever before her. Her eyelids fluttered as she blinked away the shock.

The moons cast rippling shadows over and between the aged trees lining the main walkway to the palace. Sera could walk the space with her eyes closed. She'd done it before and considered it again to maintain what little composure she felt.

"No way," Orienn's guard pushed him besides Sera. His gear hung in tatters, flying in the night air light feathers on a wing. He had put up a stronger fight than Sera, but this sudden site silenced his skirmish with his equally haggard guard. "These fucks are keeping you prisoner in _your_ house?"

Sera moved to ask how Orienn knew this was her family home before he spoke again.

"Have you rebels no shame?" Orienn bit his bottom lip, goading them, begging them to engage. Mischief gleamed in his eyes like he was drunk on it. "I expected more of your ragtag rebellion. Even the Resistance is better at this than you. They can afford good ships and actual holding cells."

"Would you shut up?" His guard pricked him with an electrified spike, they kind Sera's father employed for corporal punishment against traitors and war criminals.

"Nope," Orienn hissed between his teeth.

Sera's throat tightened at the realization that they saw _her_ as a war criminal and would treat her as such. Perhaps her graphic inquiry about Hux's potential torture techniques was prophetic. She'd be fortunate to make it out of this with her nails adhered to her body.

The group headed up the hill to the main entrance. What Sera once perceived as protective foliage now felt stifling, like the trees promised pain and suffering.

"Sera!" Orienn called across a grandiose fountain. Marbled stone looped into the shape of a torch spouting water that crashed hard into the base of the fountain, only to begin again. "I don't think your family's here."

Sera's neck creaked as she turned to look back at the palace from Orienn's mutinous stare. Every room was dark except the flood of brightness spilling onto the steps from the entrance hall like a river overflowing during harsh rain.

A tall, dark figure stood, legs apart, waiting.

The streak of adrenaline and chill of hatred alerted Sera immediately to who it was. She stood tall, settling her face into a disinterested stare as they climbed the dozens of steps to her home. As she landed level with the figure, his sharp, handsome features came into view.

"Hello, Seraphina," Stiva crossed his arms, smirking. "How wonderful to see you. I'd love to show you what I've done while you've been vacationing. Follow me."


	9. Mind Games

"Your flair for the dramatic is even more insufferable than it was five years ago," Sera deadpanned. The cut in her arm rang with fatigue and blood loss. A trail of coagulated blood followed her through the entrance hall like water through a stream. She had more dirt on her body than blood inside it.

Sera turned from the trail of blood building behind her to examine her surroundings. The home she once knew had fallen prey to Stiva's tampering. The tile below her now marbled like lava through rock, the light fixtures boasted matte black instead of shimmering gold, and the walls once lined with regal family portraits reflected her face with mirrors.

The building surrounding her now was alien and threatening, cleaned of her family history by a parasite. What had been a pleasant, familial warmth now gave an eerie, uninviting overtone. Fond memories burned at the stake of Stiva Oberfell.

Sera angled her shoulder to her nose to rub a building burning sensation. The scent of scorched wood and smoke dashed through her nose into her lungs.

She dropped her gaze, tugging uncomfortably on the fatigued tendons behind her eyes, stretching them enough to encourage a headache in her temples. Just below her lay her father's hideaway where she'd spent hundreds of hours learning from her father, free of her mother's watchful eyes.

"Just wait until Hux gets here," Orienn yelled. A thud pulled Sera from her trance and she quickly looked to the side. Orienn held tight to the doorframe, digging his nails into the wood, smiling like a maniac. "You'll regret every second of this."

A gaggle of guards held Orienn steady as they pulled him through the entry way. He continued yelling halfcocked threats at the guards as they struggled.

"You good, Cupcake?" He called as the guards shoved him to stifle his dissent. Sera bit at her cheek and gave him a terse nod. With a slam of the door, Orienn and his yelling vanished. Sera hoped he'd seen her affirmation before he's disappeared.

A draft swept the room from the open door, sending Sera's hair a thousand directions. With a rush of air, leaves spun circles in the hall, sweeping every surface before landing in a mixture of blood and grime.

"You did this?" Sera motioned around the room with her elbow, pleased the weather patterns mimics her feelings on the different decor. The strips of ruined gear tangled in her arm as she waved, forming knots among each other. They tugged at the light hair on her arms, pulling pieces away.

"Yes," Stiva shrugged his disinterest and spun on his heel. He adjusted his cape and looked back for Sera's reaction, his lip playing at a smile.

He donned vibrant ceremonial regalia for an event he never partook in. A wispy, flowing cape with intricate swirling designs on the chest fashioned the piece similar to her father's. It elicited memories on its own Sera dared not remember.

Stiva was mocking her.

She stopped without warning, sending the guard walking behind her into her bloodied back. Their pressed uniforms came away red and they grumbled, reaching to rub their crimson hands on Sera's gear. As she felt their hands nearing her, they tore them back, reticent to touch the Princess.

Sera would have gazed back had Stiva not stood before her. He'd grown since she'd seen him last. His arms rolled with muscle and his face flattened with a tougher jaw. Either she wasn't intrigued by her previously betrothed because he wasn't her type or because he remained the scum of the galaxy with the tactical wherewithal of a bug.

Dragging her eyes up his body, she searched for weak locations like a limp or point of pain. Instead of discovering a weakness in him, she discovered one in herself. One Stiva knew all too well. Sera recognized his regalia. It didn't simply mirror her father's, it _was_ her father's. This fact made her see red.

"You steal now too?" Sera reached for Stiva, gripping at his robe, sullying it with blood and dirt. The shock from the cuffs ripped through her hands right to Stiva. "That's not right."

He cursed and spun, grasping at his side where the shock met him. Drooping bags under his eyes sunk as his lids rose with surprise. He looked at Sera with pursed lips as she shoved him away, breaking their contact.

She smirked, lips wavering. Sera experienced a dark satisfaction, knowing his pain was deeper than her own from the shock. Or he was unwise enough to display the exact weakness Sera tested.

The guards flanking Sera raised their blasters, jumping into action to protect Stiva. Sera felt the heavy shift in the room and heard the whoosh of metal through air clear in her mind. It sank into her like a ship rushing her spine.

As senior and practiced as she was, few people dared raise a gun to her head. The past few weeks beheld more action than her entire First Order tenure. This was a foreign and exhilarating experience. Sera's mind cleared and eyes focused, feeling every shift of a hand and drag of a foot through the leaf-coated floor.

"This isn't about right or wrong. It's war and the purpose is to win." Stiva flicked his finger against a swirling glass vase, causing a chilling ring across the entrance hall. It wobbled and spun on its axis before settling back into place. Leaves stuck to the edge dislodged and floated aimlessly to the Stiva's feet, grazing them on their way down. "But it is advantageous that I'm _also_ right."

"You think this is war?" Sera threw her head back and laughed like she was at ease. Even with blasters facing her head and her wrists locked in electrified chains, she refused to express any form of weakness. An uneven heartbeat and tense muscles, though present in her, weren't obvious to the average onlooker. "You're posturing for your men. You don't know anything about war."

Stiva tisked and waved a petulant finger in Sera's face. "Come now, you have no idea what I've concocted these past ten years."

"I've been gone five," Sera whispered. Her lips sank with the gravity of her own realization. "You conniving snake."

"And you were supposed to be the smart one, weren't you?" Stiva laughed at her expense. "Defecting to the First Order was the best thing you could have done for me. Everything I do is your fault."

The guards shifted, sensing Stiva pushing her too far and fearing retribution. Sera braved a muted glance behind her. The trail of blood remained on the floor and the blasters aloft in the air. Stiva was preparing for something. There was no point in them standing there chatting like old friends at the market.

"You knew, didn't you?" Sera pushed her shoulders back, sending rippling cracks through her tired form.

The arch of her feet ached in her shoes. Blisters dotted her heel and she kicked off the offending pieces, dropping down a few inches. The tap dislodged from one and the heel snapped clean off the other.

"Ayla thought I didn't," Stiva motioned two fingers to the guards closing in.

Sera again glanced back. She could grab a weapon if she acted swiftly enough with little giveaway beforehand. But with her arms and legs still shackled, she'd first need to break them to give her the range of motion she yearned for.

The sickening heat of bodies wriggled closer and Sera swallowed. Male musk and gritty smoke tightened her throat, shrinking the space around her like torture chamber walls. And humidity welcomed by the open door choked her from every direction.

A blaster pressed into her spine, catching on the jutting bones as it ran up. She shoved her chest forward in response and bit her lip bloody to keep in any sound of protest.

They were toying with her and she'd had enough.

Sera heaved herself to the side, leaping behind the guard who shoved his weapon in her back.

The other guards yelled but didn't act quickly enough to stop Sera tossing her arms over the guard's neck and pulling her chains against his exposed skin. The rippling electricity crackled against him, leaving searing, lightning shaped marks down his neck and under his uniform. He yelped and reached for his blackened neck like a caged animal, fighting the pain.

Sera grabbed his hands, bearing the heat of the shackles. Breathing in, she shoved a boot between his legs and positioned the blaster, shooting down at her foot to crack the chains. They sizzled and popped as they died, releasing her feet. The shackles remained tight around her ankles, but the cord connecting them shattered, giving her freedom of move and fight.

Pulling his blaster away, Sera utilized the guard as a shield. His body warm with electricity pressed against her chest.

A few guards stumbled back, dropping their weapons. Deafening shots filled the room as the discarded blasters ejected. Hits shattered mirrors and family artifacts alike, raining glass on them all. Tiny shards clipped Sera's face, some imbedding themselves and others bouncing off.

As the room silenced again, the remaining guards yelled and held wavering arms, pleading with Sera.

"Princess, don't!" A boy yelled as Sera turned the blaster to press into her hostage's chin. Her prisoner whimpered under her, shaking his head in protest. As they breathing sinked, Sera's heart constricted for this man she was meant to protect. The man she held a blaster to.

Shots flew by her, the rush of air tickling her neck. Sera gripped the guard and spun, firing over his shoulder at the other guards encircling her. Nearly every shot hit their mark and so Sera pushed the guard away, still clutching his blaster, but unable to kill him.

A final few guards fell to the ground, reaching for their fallen comrades. They shook them desperately. The screams seeped into her like water through rock.

"Mikel, wake up," the boy who pleaded with her jostled his friend lying with glassy, unfocused eyes. "Come on. Come on. _Please_."

Stiva afforded these men no time.

Shots of pain flew through her chest at the site. Sera killed her own people. The people weren't trained, they were Stiva's slaves and she'd murdered a dozen of them. Her lip wavered as she swallowed back tears, knowing she'd atone for this eventually. But losing focus would simply get her killed sooner.

Setting her feet and breathing gently, Sera grounding herself. The blaster, sparkling with flecks of her statemen's blood, remained steady as she pointed it at Stiva. His blaster shot up in response.

He raised a brow and cocked his head; a wordless challenge, his own blaster raised, aimed at Sera's heart.

As the ricocheting symphony of gunfire ceased, the only sound in the room was heavy breathing and the rush of wind building into a storm outside the estate. Thunder crashed and shook the framework of the palace. The few lamps lit in the hall were no match for the blinding shocks of lightning illuminating the room, making elongated shadows of everything in the room.

"Now we can talk properly," Sera pushed her slick palm against the safety, unlocking the firepower with a click. Stiva escalated equally. "I'll know you plan to shoot before you have the chance to touch the trigger."

Years of training settled into the makeup of her mind and body. Watch their eyes, trace any movement, and never get cornered. Every twitch in Stiva's body registered; each staggered breath and shift in posture came in to focus.

The frigid gleam in Stiva's eye remained targeted. "I seem to recall that you are the hostage in this situation." The glistening cape fabric caught in the light as he stepped forward. His boots clacked hard against the tile, sending a vibration up Sera's spine.

"Are you trying to intimidate me?" Sera's eyelids fluttered at another burst of lightning.

The red spot of blood on her arm expanded, filling out the entirety of her arm, pulling it towards the ground with the weight of the injury. Heavy air cycled in her strained lungs. The humidity of her planet was an unwelcome surprise she couldn't ignore. Somehow she'd forgotten the concept of drinking her air at home. The temperate halls of the Finalizer were heaven compared to her childhood home.

Sera braved a look at the floor as blood spread through the grout on the tiles, weaving a red and white tapestry below her. The rain began to fall, flying sideways into the room. The floor became a tye-dye of brown, a mixture of earth and body.

"I don't need to," Stiva stretched his arms in front of him. "You're a mess. Tell me how it feels to kill your own people?"

"You set me up!" Sera grabbed for him and fell forward as the pain in her arm expanded. Her palm cracked against the tile, sending rolling streaks of pain up her arm. "I'll kill you for this."

"Knock her down properly," Stiva said into the room and in an instant Sera collapsed, the restraints containing her legs shocking her. The sudden burst of vibrant electricity blinded her for a second too long like she'd looked directly into a star. The blaster she'd fought desperately to retain slipped from her fingers, flying across the slick floor towards Stiva's patient form. "I'm tired of her impertinence. I always hated that."

He swaggered forward, spinning his blaster on his finger. Confidence found him best with an incapacitated opponent.

"You're pathetic" Sera hacked up a grisly clot of blood at Stiva's feet. He scoffed and flicked his foot to the side, discarding the blood. As he moved, Sera's hands shot out. Wrapping his ankle, she heaved him her direction. A grisly pop and a cry filled the room as Sera stole Stiva's footing. His blaster also slid away like a snake in the grass.

"I don't need a blaster to fight when you're right next to me, idiot. Have you learned nothing?" Sera's voice sounded far off to her as she climbed atop Stiva. Their old insults easily resurfaced and Sera revealed in the feeling of digging deep under his confident facade..

"Get her off me!" Sera tore her father's tag from her pocket and dragged the pin from Stiva's temple to jaw, opening a slice of skin, allowing a conservative amount of blood to flow. Stiva looked to the side and yelped. "That's cheap."

"Resourceful, actually," Sera shoved her knees into his thighs, positioning him under her. Completely at her mercy. She held her chained hands before him, swinging them side to side. She wouldn't be able to reach Hux's knife at hid at her waist so this had to do the job. Electricity buzzed menacingly and she swallowed away the pain. "I could choke you with your own cuffs."

And she did.

In an instant, her arms hooked over Stiva's head as she'd done to the guard. Tugging hard, she pulled his neck towards her face. It bounced at the sudden force. Electrical burns tore across his neck like a lightning strike. She never wanted him to forget what she'd do to him if this attept to seize power continued.

The agony in his screams died as Sera toppled into darkness.

* * *

The room was frigid and uninviting in image, but it wasn't to Sera. Her father's office below the entry hall remained overwhelmingly similar as before she left, unlike the rest of the palace. A twisting staircase spun up the ceiling to the locked trapdoor. Wooden steps led the way, decaying after decades of consistent use, leaving them cracking and minimally sturdy. Her father justified the design choice claiming he'd seen enough metal in his life, rendering it useless in his sanctuary.

Sera rolled her neck to face the entrance above her. Soundproofing squares of material lined the ceiling like soldiers in formation, just as they always had.

Yelling was as futile as struggling.

Sera's chains wrapped thrice over a support beam, tugging her shoulders back with the pressure. Legs and arms bound, Sera was truly Stiva's prisoner. Perhaps choking him with electricity had been enough to warrant this.

A single bulb swung as air circulated the room, morphing shadows with every swing. Shelves of books grew long and shrank back to specs. The ancient desk seemed to roll back and forth as the shadows moved. Or it was Sera's wariness. She was unsure.

" _Now_ we can talk," Stiva licked a finger and dragged it across the silver of a large knife. He tossed it in the air, caught it, and looked to Sera like she ought to be impressed with his antics.

"You're this scared of me?" Tendons in Sera's shoulder stretched like a taut band as she heaved her chest forward, testing her restraints. The wound on her arm pulled and stung with the pressure. "You need to chain me down in a soundproof room?"

"That," Stiva nodded, sliding the side of his knife against his palm. He stared down at the weapon, considering his options. "And you and your father never let me down here. You had your little meetings where he stripped you of everything that made you royal. Fighting, engineering, military history. Distressing, really. The people of the Remidian system don't need a queen like that."

"I am no less a royal for my interests," Sera pushed her knees forward, feeling spurts of electricity. Her wary limbs tingled with numbness, begging to move but found no respite in her jerking movements. "Tell me what you're doing." Sera shifted the subject, unsympathetic to Stiva's opinion of her current profession.

"Well I can't tell you everything," Stiva strutted forward, throwing one foot after the other like he controlled all the time in the world. "But I can tell you some things."

Chilly metal grazed the side of Sera's nose as Stiva dragged it down her feverish skin. Sera hissed at the realization it was the knife Hux gifted her for this mission. His skin against the knife insulted Sera to her core. First he plundered her father's clothes and now stole Hux's knife. The greatness of the men he played at being was apparent and it made Sera's lip curl.

"You think you're a brilliant man like my father?" Chills ravaged Sera's neck as her fever build, deepening the crimson on her skin. Blinking her focus, she set her gaze on the looming weapon. "Or Hux."

"Oh," Stiva stuck the tip of the knife into the soft skin between cheek and nose, chuckling as he twisted in. "Your General who abandoned you in this forsaken system?"

"You know nothing about him," Sera struggled against her restraints, branding herself with deep, black burns where chains met skin. The light material of her tactical gear sizzled in protest, funneling noxious fumes in the cloistered room. Deep scarring would appear on her wrists and ankles before these wounds healed.

Warm tears stained Sera's face, soothing the dryness plaguing her eyes.

"I know more than you'd think," Stiva leaned in and stepped back as Sera drove her head half-heartedly towards his skull. "Like what happened on Starkiller. People talk - the entire galaxy may very well know you abandoned us."

"Shut up and tell me what you offered Marvet," Sera's uneven breaths chopped her voice at awkward intervals. "How did you offer him something more lucrative that I could?"

Stiva gripped the hilt of the dagger, slipping it against Sera's racing pulse in her neck.

"He didn't want money," Stiva used his free hand to shove Sera's head against the beam. He reeked of cologne and sweat. "He wanted to get off that shithole planet. I offered him a place at court once-" Stiva pushed his head towards his neck, cracking it.

"Once what?" Sera shoved her head to the side, away from the knife and the offending hand. Pressure thrummed her temples, rippling in and out like fingers on a piano.

"You've been gone a long time," Stiva tapped the knife against her temple in time with her racing pulse, teasing. "The tides have changed in my favor. Turns out being present for politics is an advantage."

"A coup?" Sera swallowed as a grisly mixture of blood and sweat trickled down her shoulders. The muggy air stifled Sera's practiced breaths. In and out, she attempting to regulate her heart rate, but the humidity in the secluded, underground room felt like weight against her lungs.

"Perhaps," Stiva sliced the blade from neck to shoulder, leaving a detached, thin layer of skin in its wake. It curled into a circle the farther down Stiva worked. Pops of blood appeared where the knife broke skin, creating a dripping mosaic across her shoulder and chest.

Sera hissed but didn't scream.

"Where's my family?"

" _Our_ family won't return for quite some ti-." Stiva shot his hand to his ear, listening to a garbled voice on the other end. The knife shone in the eerie light as he heaved it into the support banister besides Sera's ear. It wobbled back and forth with the force of the movement, bumping Sera's face as it went.

"They're landing? How did they find us?" Stiva turned from Sera, covering his mouth as he spoke. "Well then get the guards down here."

The heavy trap door creaked above as Stiva's minions heaved it open from the outside. Fluorescent light overtook the room, filling Sera's vision with white spots. A flurry of guards shuffled down the stairs in single file. Each aimed their blaster at Sera but her waning focus remained on Stiva. He screamed orders, directing them in the room and communicating with whoever spoke through his ear.

"Get her to lockdown," Stiva pulled at the cuffs on his sleeves, "Tell Marvet to keep an eye on her. I have somewhere I need to go."

"You're running," Sera smiled maniacally, eyes burning with humor and hope. "You're running from Hux." She couldn't contain the flush in her cheeks and the relief in her heart that Hux was here for her. He hadn't abandoned her.

Sera blinked tears from her eyes, imagining this was how Hux must have felt on Starkiller when she arrived. It was elating. The sting in her heart was no longer painful. It was welcome and she yearned to get to Hux as rapidly as possible.

"Shut her up," Stiva hurried up the stairs, pushing guards to the side, nearly knocking a few off the stairs as he went.

Sera felt the gag grating against her teeth and her chains coming undone, but her thoughts were above them in the entryway. As the guards grappled to get her up, she aided them, wanted to move.

Once she got to Hux, she'd get Orienn and they'd be free. The stormtroopers accompanying Hux would be more than enough to handle the people surrounding her.

Her heart shuttered, remembering the people holding her were her own. The people she'd sworn to protect, and she wanted them dead. These weren't rebels or outlaws. Simple people living their lives under Stiva. And she'd forged this path for them. She's murdered them twice. Once by leaving and once by her own hand.

Sera slumped into a guard as they heaved her up the stairs.

"I can't save you," She looked to the boy to her left. He appeared approximately her age, maybe less. This young man walked willinging to his death. Even if Sera begged and pleaded, Hux would never let hers' and Orienn's captors live. Their act warranted death under every circumstance. "I'm sorry." Though she meant it more than she could express, it came out hollow.

"We don't want you to," The boy responded, scowling, focusing on the swirl of the staircase.

"Alright," Sera nodded, trying to separate these men from her own in her head. They didn't want her help, they didn't want her to save them. That meant they didn't see her as their ruler.

Sounds above her built as they rose up. And when they entered the hall, it was blinding, white chaos. The white of Stiva's guards and the mirrored color of the Stormtroopers were indistinguishable had it not been for their oversized helmets.

Red splattered across masks and chests as people fell. Sera tripped the guard to her left and tore his blaster from his waist as he fell on to a body below them. She aimed her blaster for his head but failed to shoot when he turned to look up at her with pleading eyes. Arms quavering, chest heaving, he begged without words. His pale hair fell across his eyes, failing to shield the emotion in his gaze.

"Damn it. Go," She pointed down a hallway to their right, filled with Stiva's guards waiting to pile in to the fight. They were so disorganized. "Or I'll have to kill you."

"Thank you," He said as he stumbled to his feet. The boy threw his arms around her waist and hugged her tight. "I think Stiva was wrong about you."

With a flash, he disappeared, feet pounding against the tile as he ran.

Sera spun, holding her weapon ready. The Stormtroopers pushed Stiva's men against the wall, forming a half-circle barrier. In the mix of people, Stiva was nowhere to be found. Either he was dead on the floor or he'd made it out. A niggling feeling in her gut suspected the latter.

"Drop your blasters," A Stormtrooper yelled at the pack. "And put your hands on your head."

A hand grabbed Sera's shoulder and she spun to crack the blaster on their head with her good arm.

Hux grabbed her wrist swinging to make contract with his face.

"Hux," Sera locked the blaster and let it fall through her fingers. It crashed to the ground as she consumed the blatant concern and relief in his gaze. Even with the pandemonium surrounding them, he focused on nothing but her.

Stormtroopers yelled in the background but Sera couldn't understand them. Hux surveyed his men, sending a warning gaze through the crowd. Their masked faces showed no response but their sudden alert stance did enough.

"Unlock Landal's arms and feet," Hux called to a Stormtrooper with a key in hand. He unlocked the shackles. As they hit the ground, Sera noticed the scorched black skin on her wrists, forming a perfect circle around her arm.

"Contain them and finish clearing the inside of the building," Hux waved his Stormtroopers away before following a set of them down the hall with Sera in tow.

A flurry of troopers searched the ballroom to their left. Hux watched his men work but Sera watched him.

When the ballroom beside them cleared, Hux pulled Sera inside, careful to avoid the black scourge on her wrists.

"Watch the door," Hux relayed to his men as the heavy oak door slammed with a crash, rattling the frame before settling.

He listened at the door for any distraction. When none arose, he focused his attention on Sera.

"You're here," Sera stood, heart rattling, watching Hux step closer until his fingers grazed her hand, tracing the veins. All thought of Stiva and Marvet dissipated starting at the man before her.

"You thought I wouldn't come?" Hux ran a thumb over her pulse, garnering information from the erratic beat. "I told you I would see this through."

His slick hair fell into his eyes and a hint of red stubble covered his jaw. The bags under his eyes were deeper than before, Sera realized, and the stress lines in his forehead more pronounced.

"Hux," Sera sighed, feeling his free hand encircle her waist to hold her steady as her knees shook.

"Yes?" His hands ran up her back, massaging tight muscles. Hux dragged his fingers over her shoulder and settled on her neck, running his thumbs over her cheeks. Dirt and blood from his gloves dragged in lines across Sera's face, but she didn't mind. Whether it was her own, or others, it made no difference.

His hands wandered, feeling her pulse around her body, slipping his gloved fingers through holes in her uniform to assess damage. Through erratic breathing and prolonged gazes, his hands finally landed at her waist.

Hux bent to rest his forehead on her exposed shoulder. "Are you injured?"

"Yes," Sera mimicked his clipped speech, finding it difficult to direct air into her lungs.

"Dire?" The growing stubble on Hux's face ran across her neck, catching, and forging spots of shivers down her spine. Sera's head rolled to the side, enjoying the sensation, memorizing his touch.

Hux's heavy coat swayed with their movements, dropping down his shoulder and wrapping Sera in warmth. She hadn't realized how cold she'd been before he was around her.

"Mildly concerning," Sera conceded.

Hux swallowed, running his nose leisurely up her neck. His hands moved up and down her waist, soothing her. His lips grazed the soft skin below her ear and Sera closed her eyes, overwhelmed with the feeling of his lips against her.

"Sera," Hux breathed into her ear, barely more than a whisper.

Sera's shoulders sank against his chest, causing her to fall into him. Elated with her response, Hux removed his head from her neck to look to her eyes. Sera nodded erratically, feeling the rising tension in her shoulders as he guided her chin up to catch his lips on hers.

The kiss was urgent, overwrought with stress and pain. But it wasn't enough. Hux gripped desperately at the fabric on Sera's back. His palms pressed into her back, guiding her closer towards him. He hummed as she pressed against him.

Sera grabbed his collar to pull him down into her. Hux's fingers pressed against her in response, forming crevices in her skin as they slipped between slits in her gear. The stiff lines of his uniform pushed into her as she caused creases in return.

Sensitive gooseflesh prickled Hux's neck as she twined her fingers in his hair. Stumbling forward a step, Hux held Sera steady as she pushed herself farther into him. Standing on her toes, Sera hastened the kiss, straining the boundaries of their situation surrounded by Hux's men.

Hux opened his mouth to speak and Sera shook her head. She slipped her hands down and around his waist, enjoying the sounds of approval it elicited from Hux.

"Don't," Sera whispered against his lips, feeling her breath entangling in his. She grabbed at his uniform, feeling too much fabric between her hands and his skin.

The contact knocked her from her trance. Her throat tightened with impending tears but she needed to distract herself. Losing control would solve nothing and ruin this moment with Hux she may never experience again. Here it was a Princess and a General. Soon it would be a General and his inferior once more.

"You're bleeding on me," Hux protested, running a gentle finger above her cut. Sera's avid touch made him dizzy and just drunk enough on her not to protest further.

"It can wait," Sera silenced him with another fervent kiss as warm tears fell. They trickled down her cheeks onto Hux's arms at her waist.

"Sera?" Hux pulled back from the kiss.

With a gasp, Sera's hands slipped away from him and he let her go without a fight. She stumbled back, collapsing to her knees before him. They cracked painfully against the floor, sending shocks of pain through her thighs. The tile was chilly against her forehead as she pressed her burning skin into the floor.

All control dissipated. Sera released a wracking sob that shook her to her core. Her back shuttered with the impact of the pain.

Her quaking hands formed fists in her hair as Hux fell down at her side.

"I killed them," Sera pressed her eyes shut, blocking images of her people falling from her own blaster to their hearts. "I destroyed my people. I killed them."


	10. Equilibrium

"What else were you to do? Let them murder you? Torture you?" Hux crouched at Sera's side, hands hanging casually over his knees. "They turned their back on you, Landal." He motioned across Sera's form against the tile. "Now get up, I know you're better than this."

His command was gentle but carried the undeniable weight of an order. The heaviness in the air pushed hard on her muscles, straining her lungs and throat as she regained composure.

Sera cleared her throat and nodded into the tile. It was hard against the charred skin of her face. Blood dragged across the floor from her cheek as she turned to look at Hux. The weary muscles in her neck protested, tightening with each burst of movement.

"Get up before I make you," Hux offered a gloved hand to Sera, fingers beckoning her to him. "Please."

Sera hauled herself on to her knees, curled her fingers in Hux's hand, and pushed up from the floor. He pulled her up against him, dropping his free hand to her waist. Their twined fingers stuck to their chests between them.

Hux bent down to whisper against Sera's wavering lips. "Do not forget who you are again. These people have no autonomy to treat you this way. Do not let it go unpunished." The last of his words clipped hard as he enunciated his plea to bring her back to sense.

"Stiva's staging a coup," Sera rubbed a finger against her tender, burning wrists. Black flakes of skin crushed under her touch and she hissed. The shallow cut down her shoulder stung as dirt collected in the sliced skin with every movement. "I have to stop it."

"He's a fool to cross you," Hux pulled her wandering hand from her wrist, setting it gently at her side. "We will discuss further on the ship. Now you need a medic."

The scorched skin falling from her wrists and ankles landed across their feet like decaying winter leaves. The cut on Sera's arm changed color by the minute, warning of an impending infection. Fabric from her unsalvageable uniform hung in tatters, swaying eerily in the drafty room.

"This isn't your fight, Hux," Sera pressed her head into his chest and smiled softly as he jerked at the sudden show of affection. Her head against his heart lent well to feeling the unsteady beat reverberating in his chest. Sera ran a hand up his stomach, clutching to the fabric of his coat.

"But a medic would be nice." Her voice still cracked with the remnants of tears and her chest ached with something she couldn't identify.

"I disagree that this isn't my fight, though we may continue quarreling later," Hux dislodged himself from her grasp. Sera half considered pulling him back to her but was content with his fingers holding her own. It was a careful touch, not overly affectionate or intimate, but Sera sensed the sincerity in his gentle movements. Controlled and subdued, it reflected the Hux Sera admired more than the Hux who held her against the floor and threatened assassination. "Right now you need medical attention."

Sera looked him up and down, securing his frazzled, unkempt image in her mind, and turned towards the exit. Medical attention felt like an excellent idea, if for no other reason than abandoning this awful place.

Hurrying toward the door, her arms swung at her side. Hux reached from behind her to catch her hand, dragging his fingers over her thumb. Sera turned with wide, searching eyes and Hux's hand settled behind his back with his gaze trained above her head.

* * *

"Cupcake!" Orienn lumbered towards Sera with an obvious limp on his left side. His gear was in tatters like Sera's. The imitated dark specters in a sea of white. He hurried with shaking, outstretched arms. "I told you this old brute would bust us out."

Hux raised a brow at Orienn's impertinence.

"Old brute, _Sir_ ," Orienn added, palms up in defeat as if it negated his inappropriate comment.

"Selys," Hux called. "See to it Landal gets immediate medical attention."

Coming up behind Sera, Hux ran his hand along her elbow and walked past them towards a small group of Stormtroopers waving to capture his attention.

Orienn's mouth fell open and his torso turned to follow Hux's path as he walked away, like his body tied to Hux's.

"What was that?" Orienn turned back and tickled Sera under her chin.

She batted Orienn's hand like a bug vying for access to her eyes. But his statement was enough to focus her mind on a single thing. Unable to help herself, Sera stole a glance at Hux over Orienn's shoulder. He stood proudly with his hands stuck tight behind his back, speaking intently with a Stormtrooper boasting red shoulder plates. Even with his hair out of place and cheeks stubbled, Hux looked regal and commandeering the way he held himself.

"I understand that you want to stare at him," Orienn snapped in front of Sera's eyes. "But you're staring."

"I'm in shock," Sera shook her head, looking back to Orienn in her face. The cut along his temple bled like falling rain on a window sill. He wiped it with the tatters of his uniform and grinned at the mess he created.

"I'm sure you are, Princess," Orienn smirked. "Hux is quite a looker when he's all mussed up, isn't he?"

"Maker," Sera ran a hand over her arm and poked at her cut. "Just take me to see a medic. I don't want my wounds festering. Or yours." Sera ran a hand over Orienn's forehead, tracing the line of the wound. "That's not very pretty."

Orienn scoffed. "I'm always pretty. Especially with battle wounds."

"Just get us to a medic, Selys," Sera smiled to herself as she turned, wiping the remaining redness in her eyes from the tears.

Walking was a nearly insurmountable task. Sera's arm ached, he wrists and ankles burned, and every other painstaking moment she yearned to look back at Hux. She afforded herself a single opportunity but ceased immediately when Orienn crossed his arms like the smug bastard he was.

Orienn hadn't been wrong, Hux did look good all mussed up. It wasn't dissimilar to how he looked on Starkiller, but seeing him now was different than it was eons ago when they first met.

With a final glance back and an annoyed smack on Orienn's arm, Sera hurried to the ship. Now feeling and internalizing the full extent of her wounds, the adrenaline waned and the pain waxed as sure as the cycles of the moons above her.

A few Stormtroopers followed them inside, securing their safety as they burst into the muggy night. Warm rain hit Sera's face, purging blood from her skin. Her burns sizzled and smoked as it made contact. Sera tucked her arms into herself, protecting them from the elements, but enjoying the feeling of cleansing the grime from her face.

Lightning crackled across the sky like wayward blaster fire, raising the tips of her hair with electricity.

Orienn huffed. "Why isn't my hair long enough to do that."

"Because long hair is a uniform violation for men." Sera held her arms in front of her, feeling the rain on her wounds, enjoying the pain.

"When did you become such a snarky know-it-all?" Orienn frowned unconvincingly and it flipped to a bursting grin at Sera's half-hearted scowl.

"I never said it was fair."

"Commander Fuckwit does it."

"I'd imagine _Supreme Leader_ Fuckwit can do what he wants," Sera stopped in the muddy ground. Dislodged grass and dirt coated her shoes and shins. The grime grazed her wounds. Hissing, Sera shook her leg.

"Oh no," Orienn covered his eyes. "You're turning into Hux with your titles and shit. I can't handle two of you."

"I'm not-"

"Just come on," Orienn placed a hand between her shoulder blades. "Those look pretty bad."

Sera nodded silently, enjoying the mess she made climbing the ramp to Hux's ship.

The ship bustled with activity. A few notable officers had remained along with the medical staff too valuable to risk.

While Sera believed them to be adequately occupied, a portion of her wondered if they feigned activity to pay attention to their surroundings without looking conspicuous. The group fell silent as they noticed Sera and Orienn, all looking down and away, confirming her theory.

A medic with a kindly face hurried with a towel and a bag of tools as Sera and Orienn stumbled inside. The medic got Sera first, wrapping her in the towel and cooing to head down the hall.

The few remaining people on the ship married themselves to the walls as Sera walked by. She smiled sadly at a few, looked away from others. Being feared was not her goal but it appeared her association with Hux was shifting her reputation.

Orienn flicked the helmets of passing troopers and hugged shock-stricken officers as he passed, ignoring the uncomfortable gazes he received in return.

Sera shook her head and headed into the tiny medical ward aboard the ship. It wasn't impressive but it was viable and enough to get her what she needed.

"Please, sit down," The medic motioned to a room for Sera. "We'll get you fixed up in no time."

"Thank you," Sera smiled as the medic followed her inside.

* * *

It was dark when Sera awoke in the immaculate medical bed. The downy sheets grazed against her, sticking uncomfortably to medicated wraps littering her body.

Quiet fans hummed in the background and Sera pulled her covers up closer to block the creeping cold. Groaning, Sera ran her hands over herself. Injuries dotted her from toe to temple.

The room was calm lest the sound of fingers tapping the glass of a datapad. And dark except for a dim light illuminating the walls.

A myriad of machines beeped and chirped merrily, some connected to her, others observing. They provided the only extensive light source in the room; distant like the bowels of a cave with only a speck of light to keep Sera from the impenetrable darkness. Nonetheless, the repetition of their flashing and beeping was serene compared to the cacophony of the past few weeks.

Sera closed her eyes again, ready to fall back into a restful sleep. Muscles she couldn't remember having buzzed, electrified with disuse. She wriggled her fingers and toes in response, willing them to rewake.

"Sera?" A cautious voice called from the side of the room.

She jerked and flipped over in bed, taking a machine along with her. It rolled a few feet until it crashed lamely into the side of the bed, making a noise louder than the minimal damage warranted.

Hux's unreadable face lit up from the datapad on his lap. His legs crossed casually but he undid them and stood the second he got a response.

"Hux?" Sera pushed herself up in bed, arms quaking in protest. The covers slipped down to reveal a modest medical gown dotted with sweat. A fresh bandage wrapped her injured arm and bacta soaked bandages clung to her wrists and ankles. They looked similar to Stiva's shackles and were a constant reminder of the worst possible person in the galaxy captured her.

Two needles stuck to her arm, one on her wrist and the other inside the crook of her elbow. She looked back at the machines. One displayed her erratic heartbeat and sudden jump as she'd noticed Hux. The other displayed a rolling count of her other vitals, changing every few seconds to reflect the most accurate and up to date information. They too looked unnaturally volatile, though Sera knew little of medical science. And what little she did know, she was not fond of.

To get her mind off her medical display, she looked around, gathering her surroundings before acknowledging Hux further. Though, it didn't seem to be a problem. He stood waiting, clutching the datapad in his hands, watching her acclimate herself.

Across the room, Sera noticed a window looking into the great expanse of space. They were most likely no longer in her system. It was both exhilarating and saddening that stint at home was fraught with strife and pain.

As her face fell into sadness, Hux placed his datapad aside and came to stand by Sera's bedside. He reached to his hip, fumbling to pull something from his pocket.

Sera's mind adjusted to her surroundings as Hux dug in his pockets. He'd cleaned up since she'd seen him last. Hux shaved and set his hair back in place. Even his uniform was cleaned and pressed. Hux looked as if nothing had happened to him. He was again the model of perfection. While she herself looked like she'd flown out an airlock with her erratic vitals and mass of bandages.

At least she was clean. The tips of her hair stuck together with the remnants of sweet shampoo. Her skin now rid of dirt, it was left lingering with a scent similar to her hair.

Hux cleared his throat and looked down at Sera's bed. Her legs were bare as the gown rode up at her fidgeting. Bruises and minor cuts dotted her legs and he made a note to request somebody handle them so Sera wasn't forced to acknowledge further injuries.

"Would you like to sit down?" Sera shuffled to the side so Hux could settle in. He looked past her face, listening but not looking. "But be wary, I'm half droid now."

Hux frowned and Sera held her IV arm aloft, wiggling it lamely like a worm in the sand.

He looked at the monitors, eyes flicking back and forth.

"I'd appreciate if you wouldn't read my vitals," Sera wrapped her arms around herself. Of course, Hux understood this stuff. But she didn't want Hux giving her a diagnosis. She was already going mad, she didn't need Hux saying her body was deteriorating too.

"You're ill," Hux looked back to her, "And you're still feverish. The arm wound was infected."

"I don't need more information," Sera said, rubbing her forehead to feel the warmth permeating her temples. Warm sweat trickled down into her eyes.

"You aren't amiable to hearing your diagnosis?" Hux's eyebrows sank and the lines of his face deepened. His signature bags cut lines under his eyes. The shadows casting on his face made reading his mood near impossible.

"Not from you, no," Sera dug her palm into her tired eyes. "I don't think you're supposed to know anyway."

Hux looked at the monitor, noting the raised heart rate and sudden increase in body temperature.

"Alright," He sat at the edge of the bed, only touching as much as necessary. "I'll send somebody in later to speak with you."

Adjusting a few times, Hux settled and faced Sera, playing with something in his hands.

Sera leaned over and switched on the light beside her bed. As she looked back, Sera noticed the twinge of red passing over the sharp lines of his cheek. Like a wayward stipe of a blank canvas, it looked out of place but not displeasing. It softened his face and Sera felt her own cheeks warm in response.

There had been no opportunity to process what transpired between herself and Hux. Kissing him was cathartic and emboldening. But what had previously maintained kindling inside her now awoke a rabid wildfire. And the only way to subdue a fire was the chill of rain, which she'd left behind in her system.

"I assumed you would like this back," Hux held her father's pin and Sera toppled back to reality. "It was soaked in blood. I cleaned it but I will have it shined properly once you're well."

Sera's heart shuttered as she reached for the pin. She wrapped her shaking hands around Hux's, feeling the chill on his fingers through the gloves.

"You found this?" Sera shimmied closer to Hux, crossing her legs, sitting in front of him. Bunching in the bedding, her gown barely covered her knees and Hux looked away again. The stress of movement built an ache in her ankles but Sera was so lost in him, she didn't notice. "And brought it back to me?"

"I discovered it in the entryway," Hux shifted, pulling a knee onto the bed to face Sera. "It clearly means something to you."

Sera ran a thumb over her father's aging pin, feeling the indents in the metal from his name. Flecks of dried blood lodged in the lettering like decoration. Part of Sera didn't want it cleaned. It acted as a physical reminder of Stiva's actions and it would serve her well as she moved forward.

Sera put the pin aside, never breaking her gaze on Hux. Fumbling for the nightstand, she felt until she gripped metal under her fingers. The silence in the room lit with the scraping sound of the nightstand opening and closing. Sera swallowed before facing Hux again.

She shuffled forward experimentally. Hux's back remained straight and his hands rested uncomfortably in his lap, fingers crossed at odd angles as if he didn't notice it in comparison to his discomfort elsewhere.

Their breathing slowed as they watched one another, each waiting for something of the other. Sera reached up slowly, placing gentle hands on his neck, running them up to the base of his hair. Beads of sweat from his neck wet her fingers as she explored.

The wires from the machines followed Sera and tugged at her skin as she moved.

"When you're healed, I would like to speak with you." Hux grabbed Sera's waist tenderly like he'd shatter her if he pressed harder. "I believe there is a conversation we never properly concluded."

Sera swallowed like words caught in circles in her throat. Never imagining Hux would reintroduce this topic, she'd prepared nothing, and it showed. Her cheeks burned and her fingers shook in his hair.

"Last time you threatened to assassinate me," Sera pursed her lips, digging into his scalp, showing her distaste to mask her uncertainty.

"Yes," Hux looked past her shoulder, thinking. "This time there will be no yelling, nor insults, nor threats of assassination. I do not wish to continue that way." He looked back at Sera with an honesty in his gaze Sera wasn't accustomed to. It wasn't practiced or insincere. It was genuine.

"Neither do I," Sera slid her fingers down his neck and onto his shoulders. They were stiff with tension and the rigid structure of his uniform. Sera leaned forward to wrap herself around him. Careful to not cause alarm, she circled her arms over him into a trepid hug. "Thank you for coming back for me."

Her exposed skin scratched against his uniform. Hux tugged at the hem of her medical gown, pulling it father down to her knees. Sera's chest pulsated with an uneven, quiet laugh at Hux's move to provide her more modesty.

Sera's unkempt white gown contrasted with Hux's impeccable black uniform. Even clean of blood and grime, Sera fretted about sullying the clothing he tended so well. She sighed and pulled away, moving back enough on the bed to separate them.

Hux released his hold on her waist and stood shakily, dazed.

Sera smiled to herself as Hux nodded, bereft of words. Tugging on his jacket, he hurried to collect his datapad and headed to the door.

"I will make myself available whenever you are ready," Hux paused at the door to look back at Sera. "Please ensure you are healed first."

"Thank you," Sera smiled in disbelief. "The second I'm better, I'll find you."

* * *

"How is she?" Dr. Lyra stood outside the door, tapping a foot as she marked aimlessly on her clipboard. Her immaculate bun pulled her scalp tight, sharpening her features.

"Ornery," Hux looked back to the door and moved to head the opposite direction of the ward. He'd spend over a dozen hours sitting in the room, waiting for Landal to awake. She'd made no sound when they transitioned her off the transport ship and it concerned him. The medics assured him she would eventually, but he was not comfortable with her waking alone in an unknown location after the experience she'd had. Knowing her, she would burn the ship down if she was even remotely concerned about her whereabouts. They'd lost the Supremacy, they were in no shape to lose another to Landal's wanton violence.

Lyra grabbed his elbow and Hux spun, pulling his arm away. He clutched his elbow, frowning. "Yes?"

"At least let me check on her," Dr. Lyra tapped her pen against the clipboard. "Just to -"

"Landal's request for 'not you' still stands," Hux looked down at Lyra, moving forward a step to force her to crane her neck. "I will ensure she is well taken care of. Does that satisfy your Hippocratic oath?"

"That isn't your job," Lyra huffed, looking down and away, rubbing behind her ear. "And no. Just because you experienced joint trauma doesn't negate your lack of medical training."

"Joint trauma?" Hux whispered, gazing down the hall, ensuring nobody could hear. A few medics walked in and out of rooms, embroiled in their own mind, scribbling notes, and carrying supplies. "What do you think is happening here?" Hux clasped his hands behind his back. "Speak very carefully."

Lyra looked up at Hux. The fine lines lining her lip deepened as her brows wiggled in frustration.

"It's not uncommon for people to form bonds through trauma," She said slowly, watching the minute changes in Hux's face. "What you are currently experiencing is most likely shallow and fleeting." Her words faded off, considering Hux as he raised a brow.

"Continue," Hux ground his teeth. "If you have more to say,"

"Alright," Dr. Lyra swallowed and clasped her clipboard to her chest. "The long-term effects of neglecting your duties in favor of the cursory feelings for the girl are enduring. She is not."

Lyra straightened her back uncomfortably like a nerve tugged at her shoulders.

"Thank you for your input, Lyra," Hux pushed his tongue against his cheek. "I will consider your professional opinion with the respect it deserves."

"Thank you," Dr. Lyra sighed. Her

He gave her a final warning and walked past her, out of the ward.

Dr. Lyra smiled, tapping her pen against her clipboard.


	11. Affected Innocents

Orienn leaned on a support beam. The jagged paint snagged his ratty uniform, adding character if he did say so himself; and he never missed an opportunity to add character to anything.

Lyra and Hux stood in the hall, their disagreement palpable with clipped movements and tense shoulders. Orienn blew on his nails, waving his hand like he'd painted them. Hux shook his head and Orienn spun on one leg, turning the corner to disappear.

It was easy to read Hux. As accomplished a man Hux may have been, his tells were enduring. He felt things too deeply to not show in minute ways. And at the moment he looked tilted. Clearly, Lyra had done a number on him after Sera did the same.

Hux walked past, waving a hand Orienn's direction.

The red dotting his cheeks burned bright against his hair. Orienn smiled wide, hoping Hux would comment to open the Sera conversation.

"Ensure she doesn't go in that room," Hux's coat billowed like a flag. "I don't care what it takes. Make sure it does not happen."

"Aye aye, Captain," Orienn feigned tipping his hat.

"General," Hux corrected.

"Do you not know colloquialisms now?" Orienn called at the fading figure before spinning back around the corner.

Throwing his hands wide, Orienn stood tall. A ringleader conducting his circus, he prepared the show as Lyra stepped in Sera's room.

"That bitch never rests," Orienn adjusted his fraying sleeves, pushing at the buttons hanging by threads along the arm.

Giving a wave reminiscent of a royal, Orienn motioned to the passing medics. Each offered varying levels of concern at everything about him; His clothes, his flyaway hair, his unshined shoes still ripe with the blood of battle. It was how he liked it; knowing what made someone tick before speaking a word stole the most natural reaction.

"And with that," Orienn threw open the doors to Sera's room. "I bid you leave, Lyra."

Lyra jumped and Sera smiled down at her hands in her lap, swallowing a budding chuckle.

"I have the right to speak with my patient," Lyra wiped an unplaced hair from her eyes. "And you are not authorized to be here. You are not designated as an emergency contact."

"Actually," Sera waved to Orienn. "I've made an amendment. Just now. Orienn is forever more my emergency contact. He clearly has better sense than you, knowing when he's wanted in a room."

Lyra pressed her tongue to her lower lip. Looking from Orienn to Sera, she shook her head.

"Fine," Lyra flicked him a dismissive hand and turned back to Sera. "Stay if you must, but keep out of my way."

" _Actually_ ," Orienn mimicked Sera's practiced impertinence. "Not only did Hux just tell you to stay away, he told me to make sure you do. Now get out before I cuff you to the medical bed and force you to stay until Hux returns to catch you in the act of defying a direct order."

"Hux told you to leave me be and you came anyway?" Sera scoffed. "Typical. It now looks like three people have asked you to leave me the hell alone and you still to refuse."

Orienn tapped his ear, feigning activating the headpiece under the skin.

"Hey, Hux! Sorry to bother you. I know you're _so_ busy." Oreinn pulled a chair towards the bed, dropping into it like a drunk. "Lyra's being an insubordinate ass and decided she knows better than you how to handle your lady love -" Orienn's lips opened and eyes widened, pretending to listen. "Cuff her and drag her - where?" He covered his mouth, scandalized. "But that's so cruel."

"I get it," Lyra tossed Oreinn her clipboard. "You're insufferable."

"I don't care," Orienn bade her farewell with a pointed foot. He held the clipboard to his chest like it was precious cargo. "Now get out and follow your damn orders like the rest of us."

Lyra stalked from the room, looking back to meet Sera's eyes. Her gaze steely, Sera smirked rivaling Hux himself. The hospital gown and bandages marking her injured and incapable of action were no match for the intent in the curl of her lip.

Leaning in anticipation, Lyra awaited a response. But it never came. Sera readjusted in bed, settling into a lofty pile of pillows.

With a slam, Lyra disappeared, leaving Orienn and Sera alone for a chat.

Orienn planned the conversation a dozen different ways, noting every conceivable response. Twelve hours was more than enough time to construct a compelling narrative. But with Sera as the lead and Hux at her side, nothing was dull in her story.

"So," Orienn tossed his feet on the bed, rocking on the hind legs of his chair. The wooden legs slipped against the metal floor and he wobbled as he moved. "I've got some news."

"Oh," Sera stretched. "You aren't here to see how I am. Who would have guessed?"

"Of course I am," Orienn looked scandalized. "I am your emergency contact after all."

"Just talk, Selys," Sera turned to douse the smile, but Orienn saw it. Her feigned disinterest was no matter, her body language spoke every time.

"Good news, Princess," Orienn pushed a fist under his chin. "You started a revolution."

" _What_?" Sera flew up in bed, shoving covers to rush closer. "How? I need every detail. Who's involved? Who's instigating?"

"Bad news," Orienn wagged a finger, urging Sera wait. She was impatient, but not even the Princess could curb the dramatics required of a well-executed conversation. "Your lovely ex-fiancee is running rampant in the open and dozens of people have already died."

"It's only been a few hours. How is this possible?" Sera was on him, legs dangling off the bed, debating her own strength to stand. The bite in her tone built the tension of the tale. Medical machines beep merrily, an excellent contrast to the thick air.

"I don't have much at the moment because as you said, it's only been a few hours," Orienn stretched, cracking his back like a wave. "But it looks like two factions have surfaced. The Loyalists - and The Loyalists."

"I don't need your jokes right now," Sera pulled her displaced covers back to herself, feeling the chill against her exposed legs.

"No jokes here," Orienn placed a hand over his heart. "One faction is loyal to you and the current crown. The other is loyal to Stiva, claiming you abdicated. They both call themselves Loyalists."

"That's unbelievable," Sera said, staring past Orienn.

"It's unimaginative, really," Orienn rocked in his chair. "I'm disappointed they didn't call me first. I could have spun something far catchier."

"You know I have to leave," Sera ignored Orienn's self-indulgent ramblings. Face limp with exhaustion, she rested her head against her palm. The numbing narcotics made outbursts short and unfruitful. After just moments of excitement, something dragged her back down to a chronic numbness. "Just get on with it and tell me I'm being held against my will."

"You're being held against your will," Orienn snapped from glazed eye to glazed eye. Sera blinked but showed no recognition.

"Why didn't Hux tell me?"

"Because, in his infinite wisdom," Orienn rolled his eyes at his own declaration, "He believed it detrimental to your healing. Apparently, you'll burn the galaxy down and rebuilt it only to burn it again. His words, not mine." Orienn filed such a lovely sentiment in the back of his mind. He could use that someday.

"I don't care about my healing when my people are dying and Stiva wields the weapon." Sera slipped from the bed, toes testing the floor.

"Damn it," Orienn tsked. "Hux was right. I should _not_ have told you that."

"No," Sera rested a hand on Orienn's shoulder, tendons straining her knees as she wobbled. "You absolutely should have told me. And you're going to tell me everything you know."

"I absolutely will," Orienn pat her hand and guided her back to sit on the bed. "But before that, there is somebody being held captive on this ship you may be _very_ interested in."

"Who?" Sera mumbled.

"Somebody close enough to Stiva to make it worth your time to stay a bit longer before your inevitable desertion." Orienn picked at his nails, watching Sera from under his lashes. The cut of his jaw moved with the light as he held back a smirk. "Why don't you come next week when golden boy interrogates him? You can get some good information."

"Where?" Sera's heart pulsed with excitement that didn't register in hear mind. "Tell me and I'll - I'll be there."

"Glad to hear it," Orienn wiped her shoulders.

"But after -" Sera mustered the energy to pull her legs back into the bed. Knees pressed to her chest, her head rolled forward between her legs.

"I know," Orienn sighed. "I expect nothing less of you."

"Good." Sera fell sideways like a ragdoll, head hitting her mountain of pillows just before her eyes closed.

"Now I need to go have a fun conversation with Lyra about her drugging you into submission just to spite us." Orienn smacked his thighs, ensuring Sera was safely in a heap on the bed before slipping into the hall for a unpleasant encounter.

* * *

The interrogation room walls were simplistic and sinister. Blinding silver glistened every direction, moving with the light as paint in the sun. A floor-to-ceiling, two-way mirror obstructed the wall opposite the door, giving a full view of anybody unfortunate enough to find themselves strapped in the chair on the other side. But what caught Sera's eye was the mural above her told a brilliant story unbefitting of the First Order's utilitarian standards.

Sera moved her fingers with the paths of the whizzing circles. Distant galaxies dotted the pitch black ceiling. Specks moved through the stars at varying speeds, all a variety of colors. Some were erratic, coursing star to star as they raced against time, others lingered around planets before speeding away. Some routes looked familiar, the paths freighter and transport ships took consistently, others were foreign and Sera guessed something she had no clearance to know.

She scoffed at Hux's unrealized dramatics. "They're just ships."

"They are," Hux closed to door behind him.

Sera slipped twisting to face Hux head-on. Her uniform constricted her movement enough to make her spin mildly dignified.

Hux squinted, highlighting the puffy circles against his eyes. His faint amusement lingered in the twitch of his lips.

"You will never get tired of startling me." Somehow she forgot how tall he stood. Sitting beside him felt different than straining her neck to meet his conflicted stare. "Do you want a broken nose?"

"Do you want a tribunal?" Hux's chin fell low to speak quietly and controlled.

"I'd make it look like an accident," Sera stiffened as Hux ran his thumb down the side of her hand. The leather of his gloves caught against hers. "But if it got that far, I'd just kill you. It would be cleaner."

"Then it would be an execution," Hux tugged at her pinky. "It appears you only play high-stakes."

"I don't know anything else," Sera's chest wavered with a sigh as she looked back up to the moving ceiling. A ship blinked and disintegrated in a distant system. Hux frowned at the red sprinkling above them like snow. "Why have this here?"

"I'm not here often, but when I am, it's for inadvisable periods of time," Hux's shoes clicked against the floor as he paced the room; circling Sera like a ticking clock. Sera wavered between fascination in the ceiling and Hux as he circled. "The bridge is a ways away so this is more convenient."

"I think it's more spectacle than anything," Sera twisted one foot over the other as she spun with Hux. As casual as their relationship grew, the twinge in her gut urged her to never turn her back on him. "You live for the spectacular and dramatic."

"I beg your pardon?" Hux's legs clicked together with the precision of a career officer. Though he focused on the ceiling, he concentrated on Sera's response.

Sera laughed through her nose before locking her lips to cover her indiscretion. Hux's clasped hands moved with her laughter. He rubbed one thumb over the other in a nervous tic Sera was unfamiliar with.

"You build order in chaos and foster loyalty from distrust," Sera stepped closer as Hux remained still in place. "And illicit passion from disinterest. I think this room suits you well."

"Passion?" Hux continued his practiced path as Sera got close enough to touch. "Passion is unproductive and I don't partake."

"You're a liar," Sera stepped in his path.

Hux grabbed Sera's forearm, jerking her close. In his outburst, he still moved carefully around her wounds. Sera scowled at the sudden change in tone. Moments before he'd shied away but he changed his demeanor the moment she insulted him.

"Did you hit your head on Skopje?" Hux searched for bumps along his hairline. "Or are you seeking a fight?"

"Do you not see it in yourself? I've watched you command an army with officers desperate to usurp you. I stood behind you when you destroyed the Hosnian system with a speech that plagues my subconscious. I watched you brazenly defy Snoke and Ren." Sera grit her teeth as Hux pulled her against him, forcing her to stare up towards his chin. "I saw the fire in your eyes when you pulled me from Stiva's grasp, and I see you now. You of all people should know passion."

"Is that what this is?" Hux's breath tingled Sera's lips. He spoke no louder than a whisper but anything more would appear shouting with their close proximity.

"Is it?" Sera shook her head in disbelief as Hux retreated.

"A question for a question yields nothing," Hux answered without meeting her eyes. Instead, his face settled into a relaxed concern.

"No," Sera agreed. "It doesn't."

"I was unaware you were properly healed," Hux grazed a finger over her injured shoulder, raw with the dregs of injury. The same didn't hold true for her wrists and ankles, but she was skeptical his hands would drift there. Hux's mouth opened in uncertainty and he removed his hand. "You never alerted me."

"I -" Sera drooped her shoulders at his disappointment. This snub was unintentional but blatant. She swallowed at the realization how cold she must look to him. If she explained her focus on the unnamed captive, she'd look dismissive of him. But if she threw herself at him, she'd look disrespectful to the severity of what would transpire.

"If you've changed your mind-" Hux failed to finish his thought.

Sera watched the tick in his jaw. He was so naive. And she was ruined.

"I haven't changed my mind," Sera's quiet voice felt louder than necessary in the empty room. "What could possibly make you think I'd change my mind?"

"What?" Hux grabbed her chin, his fingers alien against the cut of her jaw. It wasn't a hard hold, but it was enduring. "You standing here is proof you have no interest in our discussion. I apologize for burdening you."

"Hux," Sera grabbed his wrist. Slick, white bandaging popped from under her gear. Hux shut his eyes at the sight. "Don't put words in my mouth; especially when they're lies."

"Lies?"

"I can't change my mind. You don't see I've already tried?" Sera let go as he dropped arms like the weight of holding them to her was painful. The feel of his skin against her burned like ice. "I've spent every day since we met trying and it's harder every time I see you. I'm affected."

" _Affected_?" The lingering question remained in the air as Hux froze. Everything shut off inside him. The only thing alive was his eyes darting between her own as he thought.

"Is that enough for you?" Sera looked to the star systems above her. Eyes closing, her exhausted muscles pulled at her neck as she stared past Hux. His hair in her periphery was her only reminder he stood with her still. "Don't make me repeat it,"

"Sera," Hux was against her, filling the available space with his image. His features were dark in the muted light. The blinking ships caught his face at odd angles, alighting bits and pieces unevenly.

"Yes?" Sera frowned against the dark backdrop above them. She must look as strange to him as he did her in the unsettling light.

Hux reached for the back of her arms where he didn't recall her experiencing extensive wounds. Dragging his hands from shoulder to elbow, he watched his hands move against her like it was a new sensation.

"I'm besotted."

"Besotted?" Sera's tasted the word in her drying throat. This was nothing like the time in her quarters. It wasn't demanding. It was pleading.

"With you," Hux clarified and Sera relaxed into a laugh of disbelief. The tightness in her spine dissipated and her face burned in its place. Hux tensed at her shift but didn't release his hold on her elbows.

Sera rested her palms against his chest, enjoying the soft pressure of his figure under his uniform. Pressing her thumbs into his uniform, she ran them over the length of his collarbone. The tender, satin of the uniform felt wrong against the toughness of his skin. Sera bit inside her cheek imagining the scars mirroring hers on his own skin. Somebody like him would have hundreds; physical and otherwise.

"Is that more or less than affected?" Sera's muscles strained to look up at his lips. Vertical divots split his skin like craters. For somebody so immaculate, he either gave no care to his lips or bit them unconsciously.

Hux focused on her touch. She was lost in him. He bent towards her lips when the door slid open. A rush of cool air swooped in, breaking the trapped heat in the room.

" _Way_ more," Orienn wiped his hands together as the glass door whistled and shut with a bang. "Also - not the place. I don't need to see you two on each other every time I step into my very serious and professional place of work."

"I appreciate your sudden regard for protocol," Hux said. "I assume you told Landal about what I'd be doing. I see no other reason she'd be here."

"Guilty as charged," Orienn swept a leg behind him, bowing like the star at curtain call. His ratty buttons swung around his arms like rabid pendulums.

"Guilty, indeed," Hux raised a brow and pointed at the camouflaged door on the side of the glass. "Now go get him before I put you in there instead."

"But I would be nowhere as fun to play with," Orienn waggled a finger and spun like he was drunk.

"Are you calling torture 'playing?'" Sera stood straighter and scowled. Orienn was giddy with excitement.

"They're one in the same to me," Orienn shrugged. Even in the dark, the glistening hint of mischief in his eyes shone.

"Just get him so we can get this over with," Sera looked away, rubbing her aching wrists.

"Your wish is my command, Princess," Orienn skipped to the exit. Pulling his glove from his hands, he placed his warm palm on the glass. Fog from the hand spread like a dissipating cloud, morphing into unimaginable shapes.

The door hissed and opened.

"I've never seen this technology," Sera looked to Hux, mouth wide. "It's not a scanning pad. The prints are embedded directly into the glass. How many people have this kind of access?"

"Enough," Hux widened his eyes at Sera's casual demeanor. She was back in her element, thriving in the midst of chaos.

A yell erupted from the interrogation room. Sera spun with a gasp. She knew that man better than she'd care to admit. Sera stormed to Hux after seeing who Orienn collected. Grabbing Hux's coat, pleading, Sera's voice wavered with fury.

"Marvet" Sera held tight but craned her neck to look back at the figure locked in the other room.

Marvet lost a dangerous amount weight in the past few days. His pudgy stomach hung low and the wrinkles on his face sagged. The soiled, bombastic clothing was the same as the night they met. They were ruined with dirt and ripped from the scuffle. His head hung low on his thin neck like he would fall without the metal clasps binding his arms and legs to the interrogation chair.

If Marvet heard Sera scream his name through the glass, he didn't acknowledge her.

"You had Marvet and you didn't tell me?" Her words brimmed with imminent fury but she buried it down, determined to adhere to the decision she and Hux had made to amend the way they interacted. Yelling at his misstep and assuming mal-intent would cause unneeded strife. This was the man that risked himself to find her when he had no reason to at all beyond wanting to. She had to try for him.

"Correct," The lines in Hux's face constricted as his face darkened at her challenge.

"I told you this isn't your domain but you acted anyways. Why?" Sera shoved her fist against her mouth, still feeling the tingle from Hux's breath near his lips.

"I don't owe you -"

"Don't," Sera clipped her voice, "do that to me anymore. This is my system you're interfering with. I thought you'd disengaged entirely after were evacuated. What changed?"

"Do you believe I owe you an explanation of why I act the way I do as your General because I kissed you?" Hux breathed carefully as he attempted keeping his temper in check. "Ought I show you every classified document if you decide you'd like to see?"

"That is unreasonable and you know it," Sera ran her palms over her eyes, feeling the softened cuts sting as she dragged her skin. "You know I don't. I am useful in this. I just want to understand why. Can you tell me that? _Please_ just tell me. Have I not proven I won't shatter at the slightest provocation?"

Hux tugged at the collar of his greatcoat.

"Marvet directly caused the death of my men," Hux held up a wary hand to halt Sera's tirade, feeling the habit to command her silence. But he could not and somehow did not want to. Though, the restraint felt like needles on his skin. He dragged his fingers along her shoulder and down the location of the scar on her arm. His thumb pressed in to the wound, reminding himself of the reality before him. "And most dire of all, he nearly caused yours. I will not let such crimes go unpunished."

"Attempting to assassinate me isn't a crime in the eyes of the First Order," Sera pressed her head into his chest. His heart stuttered and Sera smiled at the effect she had on him. With her head against him, he wouldn't see her grin as they argued. The soft tufts of broken baby hair at her temple caught the static of his uniform, tickling her face.

"Perhaps not," Hux gazed down at her pale hair spread across his jacket. Unsure how to proceed with Landal sprawled against him and Selys close by, he turned his head so his chest wouldn't fall on her hair. "But it is to me."

His last words were nearly inaudible but the implication of his words lingered heavy in the air like perfume clogging the lungs of its inhabitants.

Sera gripped the fabric at his wrists, wanting to be closer. Soft but structured, they crumpled in her fingers. It was as close to his hands she would to venture at the moment.

"You weren't planning on telling me at all, were you? I wouldn't be here if Orienn hadn't-" Sera swallowed, pushing away and standing tall as Hux's brows sank in concentration. His sudden shift from indignation towards warry tenderness constricted her heart like a snake strangling its victim.

"I - always intended to inform you of his presence, though I planned on waiting until you were well." Hux sighed, rubbing the wrinkles from the fabric at his wrists. "I never intended to deceive you or hurt you any further than I already have."

Orienn slunk back in the room, slipping through the door and closing it behind him. His shiny shoes squeaked against the metal floor and he cringed at the sound.

Hux sneered at Orienn who waved his hands in defeat. He still looked pleased with informing Sera of the current prisoner. "Explain to me why you thought it necessary to tell her before she had the time to heal."

Sera rolled her shoulders and rubbed the tension from her back. If she were soon to see Marvet, she needed to appear her absolute best, as if everything he'd done to her was trivial.

Hux starred at Orienn, his gaze promising something Sera didn't want to contemplate. The tick in Hux's cheek drove her to reach and place her palm on his arm to calm him. It worked. His breathing slowed and the tightness in his jaw beside his lips disappeared.

"I don't usually dabble in lovers quarrels," Orienn said, stepping back towards the door separating them from Marvet, "But I figured she ought to know since Marvet tried to kill her and all."

"Hux," Sera fell back into her standard way of speaking, immediately drawing his attention from Orienn. "I have valuable insight into the Remidian System. If you're interrogating Marvet, the information I have could be vital. I understand why you didn't tell me but my value in this situation outweighs my comfort. I'm staying."

"No," Hux countered. "You're leaving. You're going to heal and I want to hear nothing of this until you're well. I won't have you interrogating him while you're still wavering where you stand."

"I'm not -" Sera shook her head, suddenly feeling what Hux explained. Planting her feet, she relaxed her knees and tightened her core, ensuring she'd stay on two feet. "If I can't interrogate him, I'll watch."

"Just watch?"

"I swear," Sera squeezed him arm.

Hux looked to Orienn. "Stay with her and make sure she behaves. Alert me if anything changes."

"Aye aye, General," Orienn gave Hux an exaggerated salute and offered a hand to Sera. "Let's go Cupcake, time to watch the show."

Hux nodded to Sera and stepped into the interrogation room. Hux cleared his throat and Marvet's head flew up with a creak. Sweat coated ringlets covered his eyes and he shook his head for a better view of Hux.

" _You_ ," Marvet hissed the accusal of an unspeakable crime.

Sera fumbled forward, pressing her hands against the glass, holding desperately to every word. Her fingerprints stained the glass, forming unique, entwined ringlets circling the outline of her hands.

Orienn scoffed in the background, accosted by her refusal of his hand. He mumbled something about chivalry being dead and ambled towards Sera at the glass, ready to catch her if she fell.

Sera leaned her head into the glass. Anything Marvet said could be immeasurably important. Or Hux could miss something Sera didn't if Marvet spoke of things The First Order wouldn't understand. Warm fog obscured the glass as Sera breathed against it. Her fingers shook, sending lines of smeared glass through the foggy mirror. Rabid with anticipation, her mind emptied of everything around her. Only Marvet mattered.

"Me," Hux adjusted his gloves in full view of Marvet's wandering gaze. "Would you like to talk or shall we have fun with this instead?"

"Fun," Marvet spat at Hux's feet. It was a feeble attempt at dissent.

Hux raised a brow, chin moving to acknowledge the wetness on the floor. "I'm far more intrigued with this method than you talking with no provocation."

Marvet wracked a cough at the dryness in his mouth. White gunk coated his tongue from dehydration. "You'll kill me either way so why should I speak?"

"Fascinating opinion," Hux ambled to the rolling table, layered with a myriad of devices. "But unimaginative."

Sera pushed an eye against the glass to examine the tools. On pick sparkled with electricity, a second displayed jagged and uneven spikes down the side. But Hux went for something seemingly less sinister; a shiny metal globe glowing molten red in the core.

"I have somebody of interest to you on the other side of the glass," Hux spun the sphere in his gloves like a God manipulating a planet. As he worked, the red seeped out in veins, staining the entire piece. Smoke rose from his gloves like an extinguished candle at the growing heat. "She will make the final determination of your fate. You're a relatively intelligent man. I'm certain you know who it is."

Hux tossed the ball in the air and it landed with a hiss back in his palm.

"You got the Princess out?" Marvet coughed again, leaning to gauge the nature of the item in Hux's position.

"You thought we wouldn't?" Hux tsked, swaggering towards Marvet, but careful to leave him in view of Orienn and Sera watching on the other side of the wall.

"I thought Stiva was smarter than that," Marvet tugged against his restraints as Hux came closer, wielding the burning sphere like a weapon. Grease coated his hair, sticking to his face as he struggled.

"You misplaced your trust," Hux towered over Marvet hissing, feeling the sudden heat against his shoulder, "fatally."

Hux dropped the circle and Marvet yelled the moment it met his skin. Ripping it away, Hux smirked, holding it between himself and Marvet. He'd made his point showing what the sphere did.

"Would you like to explain to me what this does?" Hux traced the side of Marvet's face with the sphere, so close to the skin it tickled with heat.

"Burns?" Marvet feigned confidence but the waver in his voice and the quiver of his lip gave him away.

"Something like that," Hux rubbed the device and stepped back. "Now let's begin."

Marvet swallowed but it caught in his throat, his adam's apple bobbing to no avail. He tugged his restraints which tightened with each attempt. The blue of his veins pressed from his wrists where the ties were strangling his blood flow. He looked more a mess than Sera had ever seen him.

"Tell me how you came to associate with Stiva," Hux wanted to properly label Stiva scum, but insulting the man Marvet somehow revered would set him back farther.

"No," Marvet hissed.

Hux shrugged and tossed the sphere into Marvet's lap. He screamed and writhed as his flesh boiled under his disintegrated slacks. Hux crossed his arms, a smirk of disbelief and enjoyment consuming his face.

Sera laughed an empty laugh at his undeniable satisfaction. Hux was embroiled in his absolute power.

"Fine, I'll talk!" Marvet screeched.

Hux scoffed and removed the sphere. Burning flesh, red and black with decay, shone through an enormous hole in the fabric of Marvet's pants. Hux sniffed at the scent of charred skin and remembered why he only used this particular device on those truly deserving. Unfortunately, Marvet was one, so he would endure.

"Wonderful," Hux said, coming to stand directly over him. His knees pressed into Marvet's as he leaned forward. "Tell me everything."

"Stiva wanted to change the status quo." Marvet whimpered. "The Princess abandoned us. He was all we had left."

"I'd advise you not speak ill of the Princess," Hux reveled in Marvet's flinch, expecting a burn. But Hux wouldn't give him what he expected. Sometimes withholding the pain was more effective as giving it.

"Of course," Marvet said among hacking tears. "Stiva was supposed to be different. Our planet would prosper. The taxes destroyed us. All we were was a colony. A money drain for the Royal Family."

"I'm sure Stiva promised you the universe," Hux's voice chilly with indifference.

"Yes," Marvet hung his head. "But he mostly disappeared when the child came. By then it was too late."

"A child?" Hux's voice brightened at the admission.

Sera stumbled back from the glass like it seared her. Ayla never mentioned a child in their sparse communication. Stomach roiling and heart shattering, Sera stepped up towards the glass for a closer look at Marvet.

He was lying. He had to be. It was nothing but a clever manipulation tactic to keep Hux distracted from valuable information.

"Yes," Marvet whimpered, eyes watering like a dam ready to burst. "I swear."

"He's not lying." Sera yelled at the glass, banging her fist hard enough to jiggle the wall. Marvet heard this time. He looked past Hux towards the two-way mirror. Hux noticed too, looking back at his own reflection, frowning his disapproval. " _Fuck_."

Marvet somehow found Sera's eyes in his own. She spun to press her back against the glass, dreading Marvet's eyes on her own. Panting, Sera searched from ceiling to floor. There had to be a way into the room.

Orienn stood still, awaiting her next move. The wild look on her face compelled him to step back.

"Sera," Orienn said. "Just let Hux do his thing. I promise he'll get the answers you need."

Sera leaped for him and grabbed his wrist tight enough to pop his veins. Caging his other hand behind his back like a wing, Sera shoved him forward. The tumbled forward in an uncoordinated jumble of limbs.

"Hey!" Orienn fumbled against her as she pushed him to the invisible door. "Don't lose your head now."

"Shut up," Sera forced his palm against the glass. It hissed and opened with a cold sweep of air.

Throwing Orienn aside, he tumbled and crashed into the wall. Sera stood rabid in the doorway. Loose bandages, dislodged from the scuffle, hung from her uniform like deflated parachutes. Her hair fell to one side, knotted as it slipped from her tie.

The room was chillier than the waiting space but the heat of anger covered her skin, blocking the cold.

"Really?" Orienn rubbed his temple where his head had met glass. "You could have just asked me to open the damn door."

"Marvet!" Sera stormed forward, ripping a random interrogation tool from the table. The other devices rattled from the shock of her hand hitting the stand.

"Princess," Marvet's mouth fell open as he stared at her healed from head to toe. Nothing looked different in her from when he met her at the house, other than her shaking, angry stance and mangled bandages.

Sera stood beside Hux who looked to her with mild interest. Waving a knife with serrated edges, Sera grazed the skin of Marvet's face with the dull side. He recoiled and pressed his cheek into his shoulder to hide.

"Sera," Hux warned as she threw her arms on either side of the chair.

"Look at me," Sera smacked Marvet the moment he looked up. His gaze fell to his burned lap instead of her eyes. She shoved her forehead against his in retaliation. The staleness in his breath permeated her senses but the throb of disgust went deeper than the physical.

"Your Princess made a request," Hux watched Marvet over Sera's shoulder. "I advise you obey."

Marvet nodded and looked up at Sera through his scorched lashes. The whites of his eyes were stained red with shattered vessels. He looked wild and broken simultaneously.

"What child?" Sera's voice rose from deep in her throat. A guttural plea wrought with promises of pain.

"Your sister's."

" _Which one_?" Sera gripped his throat, slipping her nails into his exposed skin. Thin slits of skin peeled from his neck and Marvet wriggled at the discomfort. "Which sister?"

"Ayla's," Marvet gasped as she pressed into his vocal chords. "And Stiva's."

"Don't lie." Sera dug in deeper, words inadequate at expressing her disgust. The urge to ruin seeped through her veins, culminating in her strangling hold on Marvet.

"I offer my sincere congratulations." Marvet's voice cracked with strain. "Don't you love when the innocent suffer?"


	12. Difficult Decisions

" _Liar_ ," Sera wriggled at Hux's gloved hand on the small of her back. Whether it was an act of support or a plea of restraint, she didn't care. Whatever the reason for his affection, his actions negated the crinkling ache in her stomach.

"I swear!" Marvet gasped as she pressed the dull side of the blade against his cheek for a second time. Pushing her thumb into his chin, Sera forced him to look at every well-healed scrape from temple to neck. The bone under his skin moved with her finger and she guided his jaw upwards. "I swear. Send somebody to confirm."

Marvet squirmed under her touch and unchecked disgust. The torture devices beside them were null as Sera controlled him. Legs flailing like a caged animal, Marvet struggled. Sera jammed her knee at the base of his kneecap and he howled.

"Let's hope for the sake of your limbs you aren't lying to save your ass." Sera made a show of sizing him up. "Which would you like to lose first? Or should we bring it down more and go individuals fingers. Then toes if your tongue sticks to the top of your mouth?"

"Princess, please," Marvet shook tears from his eyes. They fell, catching in the blood stains on his cheeks.

The humanity of blood, sweat, and tears coagulating on his face was a painting Sera couldn't ignore. Clotting blood streaked his face like the cut of a wayward brush. Dampness from the brush met the paint, watering down the combination of human exertion.

Orienn!" Sera's jaw moved as she though. "Find somebody to confirm. _Now_!"

"Cupcake," Orienn tossed his arms up with a definitive shake of the head. "I was told to stay here."

Mavet laughed with a wrinkled cough to follow. Sera clutched his forehead like a bird of prey sinking talons into their victim. She shoved his head against the metal headboard with a crack. Skull rebounding, Marvet groaned his displeasure.

"Do it," Hux looked back to a flabbergasted Orienn. Shoulders slumped and mouth hung like a marionette, Orienn kicked the wobbly legs of the tools table.

Stepping behind Sera, Hux grazed her waist, dragging fingers down the curve of her hip and back up. Her body convulsed with rage and looked primed to collapse; but he wouldn't allow it with Sera leading the endeavor ahead.

He was tall enough to see over Sera's head and he was glad for it. Marvet shrank with both standing square above him like stacking dolls. Hux pressed against Sera's back, holding her close enough to remove her if needed. While carrying her flailing and hollering was not ideal, he required the option remain open.

"Really?" Orienn kicked at nothing and stormed from the room mumbling about chain of command. "Damn it. I was enjoying this."

"Then watch the security cameras later for an encore," Sera watched him leave, ensuring he did what she said. But there was little chance he wouldn't with Hux's order lingering over her own. Orienn was reckless but he wasn't mindless.

Hux adjusted Sera's jacket hem at her waist. "Continue, Princess."

Sera stared over her shoulder as Hux righted her uniform. Head hanging low in concentration, Hux tugged the jacket to his satisfaction. His breath caught Sera's neck and she turned with a jolt.

Marvet's head lolled side to side like a metronome. Eyes glazed and jaw slacked, Marvet stared past Hux and Sera towards something too deep in his mind for Sera to see.

"I hit him too hard," Sera shuffled towards the door, making Hux stumble a step as he released her coat from his hold. "He's worthless."

"For now," Hux said. "He'll sleep off the concussion and we'll speak with him again."

Tossing the tool over her shoulder, it hit the ground with an echoing scrape. Sera crossed her arms, waiting for Hux to let her free of this prison. Hair catching in the sweat on her temple, Sera shook her head to dislodge it from her skin.

"Hux?" Sera rocked on her heels, the weight of her muscles dragging to the depths of the hell she was in.

"What do you intend to do if I open the door?" Hux waved a hand and a gaggle of troopers shuffled in to unlock Marvet. They babbled in low tones, conversing in code Sera didn't recognize. Marvet's uncontrolled weight dropped forward into the arms of a Trooper. He dragged Marvet through the room as he slipped out of his grip. Two others struggled to hold under his arms, supporting the dead weight of the unconscious Marvet.

"Are you holding me here?" Sera pointed to the glass door. Something water-like wriggled under the surface of the glass. The synthetic light caught the swirling blue inside the glass spinning like smoke from a dragon's snout. Gentle and controlled, it looked like Sera could dislodge it with a twist of her finger.

"I won't leave you unattended in this state," Hux wiped the grime from his tools. It was a meticulous, practiced movement. He worked effortlessly with the tools as he'd done it more than Sera wished to admit.

The glass door hissed open and a haggard Orienn slid into the room. Gripping the side of the door for support, Orienn's chest heaved with struggling breath.

"Cupcake," Orienn leaned into the frame. While his uniform was always in disarray, this time was beyond compare. His frantic tone mimicked the uneven jacket and fraying pant legs. He must have run, catching the hems of his slacks, lengthening the freeform threads.

"Orienn?" Sera ran to grab his shoulders. "What's happening?"

"There's someone at the nearest recruiting station," Orienn clutched his heart, "They want an audience with you."

"Who -"

"No," Hux ripped Sera from Orienn. Holding tight to her shoulders, Hux pulled her against him. "No more suicide missions, no more death-traps, no more putting Sera under fire."

"And if I go anyways?" Sera squirmed, feeling her resolve slip with the sensations evoked with his touch. But it was more than the sensation of his hands on her. Hux's ernest declaration of protection drained the air from her throat and softened her resolve to disobey.

"You haven't the slightest idea who is standing in that station," Hux spoke into Sera's ear. The creases in his lips caught in the wayward wisps of her hair. "I won't allow you to walk to your death a second time in a fortnight."

Sera sunk into Hux's chest. His coat landed at her sides, warming her beyond the budding redness below her eyes.

"I didn't die," Sera turned enough for one shoulder to fall further against him.

Orienn smirked with unbridled satisfaction. He obviously knew what was transpiring between herself and Hux. Hiding it from him was wasted time. "I'm standing here now. It turned out -" fine was the farthest word from the truth. It was dishonest to finish the sentence.

"It did not turn out _fine_ ," Hux spun Sera to face him. "Even if it had, you're more valuable now than when you stepped on Skopje."

"What changed?" Sera gazed over his shoulder to stop herself from looking up to him like a smitten animal. Craning her neck any more would appear too forward. Like the wanton women at the glamorous balls back home, strolling rooms, desperate to trap any unwitting man with a wanting glance.

"The bounty on your head is astronomical," Hux grazed his fingers against her scalp, as if assessing the value. Heat lingered on his gloves, tickling the exposed part down her head leading to the unkempt tie struggling to hold her hair.

"Does the price do me justice?" Sera mumbled into Hux's chest. In brazen affection, Sera pressed her palms under the cut of his jacket towards his sides.

Orienn giggled. With a pause, his laughter became an unconvincing cough. Covering his mouth with his fist, Orienn cleared his throat and settled his brows into overexaggerated concentration.

"It does not," Hux said, his fingers sliding down the slope of her neck to the curve of her shoulder blades. "But it's nothing I wouldn't willingly pay."

"The First Order doesn't -"

"I didn't say the First Order would pay," Hux swallowed, dropping his hands under Sera's collar to rub the tension from her shaking shoulders. The knots protruding from her shoulders rolled under his fingers. Sera hissed at the pressure and he retreated, concerned he hurt her. Hux instead dragged a hand down to her hip, holding her close.

"If I may," Orienn snapped Sera's direction until she turned her head to face him, cheek still resting on Hux's chest.

"I've never succeeded in stopping you before," Hux slipped an arm over Sera's waist to cage her against him. As if she'd slip away if he gave her enough freedom.

"Excellent!" Orienn clapped. "Sera, the kid told me to relay a message to you. He said you'd know what it meant."

Pushing Hux's swaying coat out of the way, Sera nodded for Orienn to proceed. Hux's body was soothing against hers. It was a gentle feeling of protection. A reminder that for once, she needn't look over her shoulder.

"He said "tell her 'Stiva _was_ wrong about her.' She'll know what that means."

Sera's eyes widened in realization. "Bring him here," Sera said, "now!"

* * *

Orienn slipped from the room and the glass door reshunt, locking Hux and Sera inside. The tension of the recent standoff slipped through the grates below them, disappearing into darkness. It was easier for Sera to calm herself when it was only Hux with her. His body covering hers felt as much an emotional barrier as a physical one. It also helped he wasn't circling her anymore, but simply standing with her, silent in his support.

Sera pressed her forehead into Hux's chest. Grabbing his coat, she pulled him against her as close as feasible. It was presumptuous but the bricks of control were crackling inside, dropping bit by fractured bit into an uncontrollable anger. If the last brick feel, Sera wasn't certain she'd be able to rebuild.

"I'm not a war-maker," Sera felt Hux shutter against her cheek. He was been lost somewhere in his head. "I don't know how to wage war. I'm not you." The last bit she whispered into his chest. If he heard or not, he didn't acknowledge it.

"Neither does Stiva," Hux dragged a hand over her hair, pulling away as her hair tangled against his fingers. "I'm certain you'll have the advantage. If only because I tell you so."

Sera chuckled with no control and dragged her palms up his chest. She rested her chin against him to look up. He was almost pretty in the soft light. Hux watched her from the corner of his eyes before dropping his head to softly kiss her. Sera sank into him with a gentle hum.

He tasted smoky and sweet, a strange combination that tingled the base of her spine. It was ethereal kissing Hux. No kiss with him seemed it would be the same. Each touch a question and every kiss a half-sufficient answer. Every time Sera wanted more. Just another second of his lips on hers. It had to be enough. But the niggling part of her subconscious reminded her she was a terrible liar, especially when she did so to herself.

This time Sera pulled back and she didn't fall to the floor. A serious improvement from the kiss in her ballroom. Last thing she needed was Hux thinking he swept her off her feet.

"I know I ought to trust your assessment," Sera rolled her shoulders in closer, "I would, but I don't trust myself."

"He's already shown you how little he knows," Hux held her head in his hands and kissed her again. Again it was different than the last. "And I'll give you what you need before you go."

"You know I'm leaving?" Sera grabbed his wrists and let him silence her with another kiss. This time it wasn't soft, it was aggressive in its honesty. Sera stumbled back a step to hold her footing.

"Yes," Hux grabbed her lower back to stop her from falling from him again.

"And you're not pulling rank to demand I fulfill my contract," Sera's lungs deflated at her sudden outburst. If he hadn't considered her defecting as anything other than what it was, he would now.

"Not today, no," Hux stepped back and examined Sera. His nails dragged down her arms to feel the gritty skin on her wrists. They still looked charred. The limp bandages couldn't cover everything. "On one condition, of course."

"Of course," Sera pulled her hands back and held her wrist like a youthful bird. Her arms already burned from the inside out, she didn't need the opposite elicited from his touch. "Give me your condition."

Hux smirked with practiced subtlety. The look he gave when he knew he was in total control. It was one of his only tells he'd give to anything beyond distaste and disinterest.

"You'll give me Skopje," Hux stood resolute for a moment before walking past Sera. Chin held high, Hux walked with intimidating confidence only he could evoke. In her daze, Sera lost the opportunity to grab him before he reached the door.

"You want - want Skopje?" Sera spluttered as she jogged to Hux at the door. His legs were too long for her to reach him with a simple walk. "Can I even do that?" Sera scrunched her nose, considering the ramifications of such an action. Was she at liberty to do such a thing? Proctoring a trade deal was minimal compared to signing over a _planet_ to the First Order.

Her father would slaughter her.

The glass door clicked at Hux's touch and he strolled outside, leaving the exit open for Sera to follow. If she didn't, surely Hux would retract his release of her contract and the only deal he'd take for it.

"Hux," Sera hurried, the exertion of the jog eating away at what little constitution she had after days in medbay followed by a neurotic show of torture. "Please wait."

He stopped immediately at her plea but didn't face her.

A congregation of Officers scattered like rats as Hux paused in the middle of their group. They jerked and scurried the other direction. The mild fear they displayed towards Hux was the antithesis of what they gave Sera. They slowed as they passed her. Like a prisoner in her personal hell, they watched her quizzically.

"For goodness sake, stop looking at me like that and _walk_ ," Sera pushed through the lingering Officers. Her previous peers. It wasn't decorus and lingered near protocol violation. But that wouldn't matter much longer. What could they do, dishonorably discharge her? "Go!" Sera turned to wave her hands dismissively at the Officers still intent on staring as they ambled away.

The hall quieted as people dispersed. Either they saw the look Sera gave Hux or they felt the burning fire in the hall, none brave enough to remain in the flames. Hux spoke without words and projected a power that scorched Sera's soul.

As the final onlookers disappeared, Sera stepped forward, her toes hitting the floor before her heels like sound would startle Hux. Curling past his side, Sera looked at his face. His stare wasn't at her, it was the hall, his headspace beyond them.

The darkness between his eyes and cheeks was pronounced in the white light. But the exhaustion he so physically exhibited didn't inhibit the churning fire in his stare.

"Hux," Sera grazed his elbow, "I'm open to discussing terms." Bile caught in her throat saying it but if this is what it took, so be it.

Hux responded with a dip of the chin.

She was so wrapped in his control is tugged at her skin like a physical rope.

"Come with me," Hux locked his pinky in hers and closed it in his hands behind his back. She hung from him like a balloon on a string.

Sera's lip fell at the presumptuousness and words slipped from her head if they'd been there to begin with. All she could do was follow. Hux maintained a slow enough pace that she could keep up glued to his side.

As they passed others, this time, nobody looked. Either the tone shifted to scare them away or they didn't care. Sera didn't mind either. Anything to keep their eyes off her reminding her of the sting of electricity looping from her finger in Hux's to her chest.

* * *

The door to Hux's quarters slid open before Sera could accept they were never headed to his office. He stepped through the threshold and spun to pull Sera with him. And before she could breath he had her pressed against the closed door with his lips on hers.

Now truly in private together, Hux let go of whatever reservations he'd held when the risk of discovery was prominent. His body caged her against the cold metal. Though her back was cold from the pressure, her front burned as Hux pushed farther. Slipping a foot between her legs, Hux pulled Sera against him, locking her at his side.

"This is how we'll negotiate?" Sera whispered as Hux kissed down her neck. Her head fell further to the side with each touch until it hung limp against her shoulder.

"Don't be impatient," Hux cupped her face and kissed her again lest she speak more. Sera opened her mouth to protest and he took the opportunity to move the kiss forward. "We'll get to that."

Sera grabbed for his waist and pushed him back a step. Her breath wavered like a reverberating bell. "I want it known in the universe that you opened this door, not me."

Hux coughed the cover a minute laugh and dragged her to the sofa. Sera toppled into his lap as he sat. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she clawed at Hux's hair to entice him into another kiss.

He obliged.

It was unnerving sitting at eye level with Hux. Sera pulled back to look at him from the same height. She couldn't recall a time she didn't look up at him. It was levelling sitting against him with the tips of their noses grazing as they watched the other. Sera dragged her thumbs over the dark circles under his eyes. Stress lines streaked through the darkness like a flash of lightning.

"I'd like to amend what I said earlier," Sera whispered against his lips. Shivering at his haggard breath. He was as affected by her as she was by him.

Hux leaned back in the plush cushions. Sera fell with him, leaning over him now, barely, but enough to shift the feeling.

"Tell me," Hux twined his fingers on her lower back like a zipper, locking her in place just as he'd done at the door. Even with Sera hovering over him, the balance of power equalized.

Hux's coat spread over the couch like wings, blocking the cushions in a snow cover of black. It made him appear much larger than he was. Sera grabbed his shoulders, slipping his jacket sleeves down the curve of his arm.

"I'm much more than affected," Sera looked to his lips instead of his eyes. It was easier to watch the curve of their sides than the haughty confidence in his stare. But even staring at his lips, she couldn't miss the glint in his eye that reflected in the cut of his jaw.

"Is that so?" Hux's hands fell below her jacket, tugging at the shirt tucked into her uniform slacks. It came free and Sera gasped as Hux flipped her on the sofa so she lay below him. Hux tossed his coat to the side and dropped to rest his forearms on either side of her head.

"Yes," Sera nodded as Hux looked from her hairline to the collarbone showing through her misplaced uniform.

"Give me sole mining rights to Skopje," Hux said against her ear.

"Fifty percent," Sera returned the gesture by popping the top buttons of his shirt free. His skin was warm under her touch. Gentle gooseflesh leaped free from his skin as she ran her hands over his neck and shoulder.

"Eighty," Hux countered with a sudden tug on her waist. Sera jerked farther below him. His knees pressed into the soft skin of her own, their legs helplessly intertwined.

"I'll give you eighty on one condition," Sera's spine curved as Hux pulled them back to a sitting position. Her braid untwined, leaving her hair a tangly mess falling down her shoulders.

"I don't do conditions," Hux pushed his fingers into her hips. "I'll give you eighty and your amicable breach of contract."

"Take me to the bed," Sera grabbed his jaw and pushed his mouth open. If he wanted to play this, she wouldn't comply without pushback.

"Perhaps I do conditions," Hux ripped her hand away and lifted her in the air.

It wasn't far to the bed. Hux threw her down and climbed back on top of her. Twining legs was easier with the extensive space. The blankets crinkled under their weight. Sera struggled to flip Hux over but he held her tight to the bed. She huffed as Hux held her hands by her ears. His fingers slid in hers as they locked perfectly together.

"What's your condition?" The low volume of his voice counteracted the danger dancing below the surface.

"If you don't agree, we have no deal," Sera pushed back against Hux and this time he let her flip him on his back. She shook her head at the shock as she landed on top of him.

"You've made no offer," Hux looked too pleased for Sera's liking. She should have been thrilled with him at her mercy. Instead it made her uneasy. Fingers tinkering with her waistband, Hux slipped his fingers under the fabric. He wasn't concerned with their current position. Sera looked away to gather her thoughts.

It wasn't a simple request.

"Stay as far as possible from myself and my family."

Something deflated in Hux. The mischievous glint disappeared from his eyes. A barren wasteland replaced the light. Every wall that crumbled rebuilt in an instant.

"That's what you want with me?" Hux dropped his hands to his side. "All this to make your wishes clear? You're colder than I ever imagined."

"You misunderstand. What I want plays no part in this decision. Sera fell forward to kiss Hux. He hesitated momentarily as he considered the implication of her words. But it wasn't long before he reciprocated with the vigor of understanding. "If I had my way, this would go differently."

The air froze around them as Hux leaned back to consider her. His eye jumped between her own. Sera's spine tingled with the thought he was not only considering the deal as a whole, but his slipping prospects with her as well.

"I accept," Hux cheeks tightened with a sudden reservation at his words.

"I'm sorry," Sera sighed and pressed her forehead against his. She felt his pulse at his temples under her touch. "But we were never meant to make easy decisions."

"No," Hux flipped Sera and the world spun her until his face was the only clear thing above her. "We were not."


	13. The Outsider Prince

Hux's figure haunted the darkness. Sera imagined his eerie power and influence as a product of his exterior; how he dressed, spoke, handled himself. She was incorrect. Hux emanated control in everything. With all else stripped he still commanded rapt attention.

Sera's bandages Hux hadn't torn during the night hung like marionette string, never making it to the floor. Other slices of bandage clung to the sheets and dangled from the bed. She wriggled her wrist free, feeling the relief of air on her suffocating skin. On her wrist, she found a zipper of charred blackness sinking deep in her skin.

Chains she couldn't remove.

Sera dragged her palm up his chest, internalizing the shape of his muscles. Some scars felt newer than others. A few cut lines into his chest, too deep to heal. Others rose above his skin, infections clumsily healed etched into him.

"These are old," Sera said into his neck.

Hux held her hand as it explored his shoulders and down his back, the history of every hit and trauma. Sera accessed everything he hid from others. An unfortunate byproduct of their time together.

"Many improperly healed from childhood," Hux stopped Sera's hand on a coarse scar between his shoulder blades. It cut like a canyon, the scar tissue rising enough above the skin making Sera's hand bounce over peaks.

"A whip?" Sera pat the scar, one finger at a time, working down his back. Exploring the path inscribed with multiple, enduring cracks.

"My father's method of discipline," Hux pulled her hand back to kiss her scarred wrist. Telling her he understood disfiguration she'd have forever. "He frowned upon proper medical treatment. He believed it made a point."

"What point?"

"To suffer."

Sera gasped at his breath against her skin, riddled with blackened flesh. It flowered under his touch, the charred skin spreading as he held gently.

"That's outlandishly cruel," Sera said. Hux kissed her wrist again. She held it back and replaced it with her lips. Pulling back an inch, he paused, unsure whether to continue the conversation.

"Don't stop," Sera said with a gentle air of control. "I felt you think about it."

"You want to kiss me and discuss my marring?" Hux frowned but kissed her regardless.

His fluid confidence shifted to broken language Sera knew by heart. Nothing he revealed of himself could shock her. His coarse insecurity illuminated the moments she'd seen in him on occasion. A mental voice dabbling with emotions warned her: further closeness would impact a clean break.

She didn't listen.

"You're looking at them like an abnormality," Sera rubbed the tension from his brow. The pressure of his thoughts drew lines in his skin. "But I'm not."

Sera fumbled to wrap his hand in hers. He had to understand while he stood alone in his position, he wasn't alone in every way.

"Your scars show not just what you've suffered, but what you've endured," Sera spread his fingers, directing him next to her bellybutton. "Do you feel this?"

Hux tore the covers back for a proper look at the old cut. The fervor in his gaze dried Sera's throat. His thumbs dropped like a finger through batter. A chunk of flesh receded into her stomach. Discolored divots dotted the bumpy patch of skin.

"This was the best he could maim you?" Hux wasn't upset with the prospect. Sera faded into his touch as he smiled at her; a smile emanating a genuine fondness. It barely showed the cut of his teeth but the smile met his searing eyes. "What did you offer Stiva in return?"

"A broken arm," Sera's voice was air dragged from her lungs, each word quieter than the last. His presence suffocated her like summer humidity.

"Inimitable," Hux dug his palm into the spot Stiva left on Sera's body.

"What?" Sera choked on her breath as he kissed her again.

"You're inimitable." Hux hovered over her. His fingers were stinging paper cuts against her weakened, bruised skin. Blood vessels popped, forming rivers of displaced blood. Purple rainbow and brown swamp patterns covered her body.

Jaw tight, Sera shuttered, "I don't know what I'm supposed to say." Sera breathed heavy as Hux dug harder into her side, spreading his fingers to jump the bruises.

Hux dropped his forehead to hers. Warmth perched high on his cheeks, reflecting his wavering composure. His touch elicited an intoxicating heat of flushed skin and sweat. Sera's roots tingled with perspiration falling to the pillowcase. Cold tension hit her exposed arms over his body.

Hux grazed a hand over her heart. It wouldn't take much to rip it from her aching chest. Only damaged flesh protected her ribs from his fingers. Her skin like undercooked dough tearing at the smallest provocation.

"Say nothing," Hux commanded against her lips, his own curving at her gravelly response in place of words. His breath was warm as he laughed softly at her inability to speak.

Sera closed the space, drawing him in with every movement. This kiss feigned a laziness Sera never expected of Hux. Like the world would gladly wait for them.

Enticing and still unfamiliar, she shivered at the taste of his lips. His body against hers made her vulnerable in ways she'd forgotten. Her skin was sensitive enough to feel the lines coursing over his palm and down the peaks of his fingers. It was skin like her own but foreign in every way.

"I will speak instead," Hux's voice was delicate. His melodic, languid words felt more his natural tone than the domineering speech of a General. He nipped her lip and she wriggled under him.

"I think you should," Sera swallowed when Hux laced their fingers, holding them at her ears like he'd burn her at the stake. They caught with hair and sheets, binding her in every direction. It should have terrified her but it felt safe twisted between him and his bed. The dark sheets were soft as fur, tickling Sera under her knees. Velutinous blankets wrapped their ankles and thighs like braiding tapestry.

"Before you go," Hux massaged his thumbs against her palms, drawing his finger over the rough lines in her skin. "I implore you to understand."

"No life lesson," Sera smiled, finding her words until her cheeriness wasn't reciprocated. Hux looked serious in a way she didn't recognize. It wasn't angry, but immeasurably severe.

"You haven't earned the privilege of my wisdom," Hux pressed against her until Sera raised her chin in defiance.

"Yes, it may kill me," Sera kissed his jaw with a pursed smile. Hux huffed at her playful mockery. The cut of stubble tickled her lips and itched the delicate pores below her nose. He froze at the gesture, waiting for Sera to lean back on the bed.

"There is no one else," Hux pulled their interlocked hands to her chest, "nor will there ever be."

Sera broke their linked hands to grab his neck. It felt wrong to lace her fingers over his skin like she had control over him. "I'll be gone."

"Even when you're gone," Hux flexed his fingers, conscious of his hands caught in her arms, "it will only be you."

Patches of hair caught her burning skin as they had on Starkiller. Hux's chest rose with an unnatural pace. His hair, devoid of any product, dropped over his eyes, shaking with his wracking breath. He was raw when he retrieved her from Stiva, but remained composed. This barred on unhinged.

Sera gave no credence to her hold over Hux before. Touching his mind when she disappeared was never a consideration. They'd never meet again. Attachment put them both at risk. It spawned political ramifications beyond a trade deal with the First Order. A romantic tie to _the_ General of the First Order meant the possibility of Remidian control falling out of her family's hands. It both gave Stiva a bargaining chip and Hux access forbidden to the most elite insiders.

Hux would live as the outsider prince and Stiva would live to ruin them both.

Nothing desirable moved among the lines of a romantic relationship.

"Hux," Sera grasped his burning neck. His body burned with feverish heat. " _Hux_."

"Armitage is fine," He corrected gently, "I am no longer your superior."

Sera's back strained with pressure fighting her flight compulsion. But Hux wouldn't let her go if she tried. Given names offered intimate familiarity. Even if Hux called her by her first name, it never set the expectation she should do the same. Or it had while she drowned in the rotary of cognitive dissonance.

"I'm so sorry," Sera watched his vulnerability recede like a rushing anchor, crashing into the seafloor of self-preservation. "I can't."

Hux considered her answer, "We're a match contrived in Hell, are we not?"

"Yes," Sera nodded. Glad she need not extrapolate. "We are."

"Since we agree," Hux was undeterred. Devious flickers of intent clouded his eyes. "Let's burn together."

Something thudded against the door. Sera jumped and locked her legs in Hux's.

"Good Morning!" Orienn sang as he heaved open the door to Hux's quarters. His legs slid like he danced on ice without skates. If it weren't sliding metal, Orienn would have slammed it against the wall instead.

Whatever locking mechanism protected Hux's door clearly did not apply to Orienn. "You two are the talk of the town. Well, the ship. But probably also towns where people are stationed so we'll compromise and say both."

A bar of crystalline light cascaded through the room, hitting Sera across the eyes. She threw an arm over her face and mumbled into her elbow. Hux sat up on his forearms, his gaze murderous.

"What was that Princess?" Orienn galloped into the room, ignoring Hux's warning stare. He sat back on a hip and considered Hux and Sera together. Rubbing his chin, he pursed his lips. Orienn snapped in revelation and formed a square with his fingers, feigning a photograph. "Scandal looks dashing on you."

"Orienn!" Sera covered herself, blinking crackling light from her eyes. "Can I at least put on clothes before you annoy me?"

Hux pulled Sera closer and brought the sheets to her neck. Sera burned red at the careful gesture. He caged her waist to keep her from leaving the bed. Leaning to her ear, he said, "I'll handle him."

"Secrets!" Orienn clapped. "I _love_ secrets. And have I got a lovely one for you, Princess."

"He's here?" Sera pushed Hux and waved for Orienn to turn.

Orienn circled his arm down into a bow and spun on his heel to face the other direction. He arrived uncharacteristically disheveled like he'd fought in the halls. For all Sera knew, he orchestrated an underground boxing ring frequented by officers with less than reputable tastes.

His hair flew in a dozen directions like wind guided him in circles. His uniform jacket slung over his shoulder, revealing the old, discoloring t-shirt underneath. He looked more dive bar patron than Hux employee.

"Sera," Hux held her arm as she tried to roll from bed. She fell back against his chest. His scars lit but in the burning fluorescent light. "Let him wait a while longer."

"I want answers," Sera ran a hand down his arm caging her. "immediately."

The glimmer of accessibility to his thoughts faded again. He reverted to his standard behavior in the presence of inferiors. As if he wasn't found in his bed with a direct report. As if nothing had changed.

Sera doubted he'd acknowledge his vulnerable sentiments again.

"I understand," Hux reached over Sera, grabbing a holopad on the end side table. "May I brief you first?"

"Oh, you already -," Orienn turned and stumbled as Sera heaved a pillow at his chest. His boots clicked against the metal flooring, streaking with a painful grind.

"Don't finish that sentence," Sera fell back on the empty mattress, regretting abandoning her pillow to make a point. With a groan, she hung a hand in the air, wrist twisting. "Come back in a half-hour after Hux explains why he had information he was conveniently waiting to tell me until forced to."

"I did no such thing." The light of the holopad illuminated Hux's face. "I simply waited for the appropriate moment."

"Sure," Sera rolled her head to the side, "right until after you -"

Hux grabbed Sera's hand in the air and shoved it against her mouth. "Do not start with me too. I will only handle one of you at a time."

"That's why we're both here," Sera mumbled under his fingers, "to gang up on you,"

* * *

Sera sat, one leg against her chest, the other dangling over the chair. A grainy projection of the boy hovered above the table. If it were any closer she'd go cross-eyed.

Grime dotted his hair in the unfocused picture. Spots of sweat pushed dirt a dozen directions on his face like diverging rivers. Determination set his face like concrete while he looked frazzled every other way. A blaster in one hand and a knife in the other, he looked wild.

"I can't keep part of myself here, Hux," The boy's image faded out of focus as she twisted two topics at once.

"I would prefer we don't speak of what I said," Hux tapped a finger on the table. "Hold your composure when you speak with him. He may be more willing to share information if he feels you are having a simple conversation."

Sera's chest caved with relief. If Hux wanted to forget what happened before Orienn badgered them, she'd humor him.

"So, no knocking him unconscious?" Sera covered her mouth with her knuckles to disguise her upturned lips.

"I should think not," Hux almost smiled. "Once is forgivable. Twice is incorrigible."

Hux flipped to the next slide. This time the boy looked younger by a few years. He stood in an extravagant entryway with his family. They all had the same small nose and rosy hair. His father stood with a solid grip on his shoulder. From the unevenness of the boy's jaw, he wasn't enjoying it.

"You remember nothing of this family?" Hux jumped pictures faster like it would remind her of who they were. "Their allegiances? Their interests? Nothing?"

"I don't even recall the family by name," Sera said. "Carr means nothing to me."

"Did you pay no attention while you spent years in your palace?" Hux dropped the control and it landed on its face, skipping slides before stopping.

"If I picked a passing officer in the hallway," Sera pointed to the door, "could you tell me their history?"

"Undoubtedly," Hux looked to the door like somebody would walk through for a second time.

"Then I'm sorry I'm not you," Sera grabbed the controller and moved slide to slide until the projection went dark and began again with a burst of light.

"Never apologize for what you don't know," Hux pulled the controller from her limp hand, "Accept it then do everything possible to ensure you are never caught the same way again."

Hux sat straight, his chin raised as he concentrated.

Sera pursed her lips at the wisdom Hux had been so gracious to tell her she was not entitled to. It was the minuscule acknowledgment of peers.

Sera looked at the Carr boy and Hux too many times, settling on the person beside her. His eyes flicked to the side and back to the screen. Swallowing, he flipped to another slide.

"Focus," Hux wrote something on a separate holopad out of Sera's sight.

"I am," Sera whispered.

"Not on me," Hux guided her cheek to face the projection and Sera snorted.

"Well," Sera snatched his hand from the air as he pulled back. Wrapping his fingers in hers, she dropped their clasped hands on to her leg. "I was never subtle."

It wasn't more intimate than they had been, Sera rationalized. A few extra touches before disappearing could do no more harm than she'd already done.

"I would not classify you as subtle," Hux frowned. "I'm not fond of brashness, though I can't help forgiving it in you."

"Running into a burning base is certainly brash," Sera's chest constrained as she scoffed at herself. The laugh dissipated and her smile faded. She rested her chin against her knee, feeling the pressure of her kneecap against the supple skin of her neck. It tugged and rolled but felt better than saying more.

Hux readjusted in his chair to face her. "Will you tell me why?"

"I did," Sera dragged her cheek across her knee to look at the creasing besides Hux's eyes. His gaze seared her burning skin.

"I don't believe you did," He adjusted his gaze to catch her eye. "Tell me truthfully. We'd never spoken. I was surely more a burden to you than anything. And you felt little but disdain for me at the beginning. Explain it."

Sera's eyes bulged as she sank into herself. Shoulders falling, she sighed. "You'll think less of me."

"Only if you lie again," Hux squeezed her hand. His gloves were off and his palm was cold in hers. It felt intimate in a way that made the hairs on her arms rise at this touch. She'd been wrong about the function of this touch.

"Now you're not focusing," Sera stood and dropped Hux's hand.

She took a few steps and got pulled back. Sera didn't fight, letting him drag her into his arms. Hux latticed fingers over her stomach, holding her back against his chest. His jacket encased them both as he held her tightly.

"I am quite focused," Hux let her struggle half-heartedly, arms swinging sluggishly until she sank back into him. "Are you finished?"

"Yes," Sera turned to face him, feeling the impact of the cage his arms created. "I could knock you down, you know."

"Doubtful," Hux waited as she decided for or against violence, "but I would commend you for trying,"

Sera shook her head, the loose strands of her plait waving like a flag in wind.

"I took the cowardly way out," Sera's jaw set with an intensity that dripped into the veins of her neck.

"I see no cowardice in what you did," Hux set his feet to evade her leg if she decided he'd stepped out of line. "I witnessed the opposite."

"You're wrong," Voice chalky, she cleared her throat. "I realized the personal implications of losing you at Starkiller."

"I do not follow," Hux lifted Sera by the waist to meet her at eye level. She yelped and clutched his shoulders to hold her wobbly body. He held her sides as she wrapped her legs at his waist.

The light of the floating screen caught the cut of his jaw. Sera kissed him to delay a moment longer.

"The fabric of the First Order," Sera whispered against his lips. Something in her gut reminded her anybody could overhear with a bug in the right place. If she spoke treason, she'd do so faintly. "It rips with you gone and Ren at the helm. I'm not stupid enough to be ignorant of what happens if you're dead."

Hux opened his mouth but Sera shook her head.

"What you've done, what you've created, it can't be replicated by somebody like Ren." Sera grabbed his jaw to keep him from speaking. "What skills does he possess beyond the force? He's not an engineer. He's not a General. He's not you."

Hux smirked at her comment, enjoying the object of his affection systematically peeling Ren's facade.

"So you're dead. Now what?" Sera said. Hux crinkled his brows and she continued. "The First Order crumbles, wrought with anarchy. The Empire-aged men with something to prove would kill each other for control. Ren takes charge of what he can but can't maintain it long-term. And in all that, what happens to me?"

"You're forced to return to your home system." Hux looked grave with understanding. Like he hoped he was the reason she'd found him at Starkiller.

"I wasn't ready," Sera smiled sadly, "I couldn't face it so I decided that at least if I died at Starkiller, I would be free."

"You wished to die?" Hux said with a lace of sadness.

"I wanted to keep living the lie," Sera rested her head on his shoulder. The patchiness of his coat scratched her forehead. "Dying was not my intention, but an option."

"You robbed me of that," Hux dragged a finger up her spine, wrapping his hand at the base of her neck. "I made my decision and you shattered it."

"I'm sorry," Sera closed her eyes. "It's one of the most selfish things I've ever done. I dragged you into a conflict that wasn't your own."

"Perhaps," Hux tugged Sera's ankles free from his waist and dropped her to the floor. "But I will not think less of you for it."

* * *

The night hung above them in the empty halls. Either they caught the changing of shifts or people weren't where they should be. Sera looked back at Hux for confirmation. The downturn of his lips alerted her to the latter.

Sera slowed to walk with Hux.

"Where is everyone?" Sera craned her neck to look up at him. Hux didn't look down but he watched her as they moved closer to wherever Orienn led them. Sera tugged at her unkempt uniform. His silence consumed her like a needle pricking her pores. Instead, Hux slipped an arm under her jacket and pulled her closer to him.

" _Hux_ ," Sera said softly, cringing at his last name.

"Armitage," Hux said through his teeth, "And I don't know."

Hux pulled a blaster from his side and handed it to Sera. She looked at it incredulously.

"I have my own," Sera pat her holster. The sticky leather was light and empty against her palm. "Shit."

"I think you were a little preoccupied, Princess," Orienn wiggled his fingers over his head.

"I was perfectly fine until you barged in, thanks," Sera ripped the blaster from Hux's hand. The last thing Orienn needed in his arsenal of secrets was how appreciative she was he'd saved her from a system-altering conversation. Hux rubbed her waist to as if to support Sera in her backtalk.

"You're the ones who wanted to know the second the little snitch arrived," Orienn pulled his blaster and spun it by the trigger in a perfect circle.

"Trigger discipline, Orienn," Sera lunged for his blaster and she rebounded as Hux clasped her wrist.

"I would've left you to your fun otherwise." Orienn tossed the blaster and stumbled ungracefully to catch it slipping through his fingers. "And you two can calm down. I told everybody to get the fuck out because we were busy with stuff that didn't concern them. Besides, we can all shoot a blaster, can't we?"

Sera nodded like he'd learned his alphabet for the first time.

"Yes?" Orienn smiled, "See, we'll be perfectly safe."

"Selys," Hux warned.

"It's fine," Sera blocked Hux from grabbing Orienn. Whatever was putting Hux on edge didn't affect Orienn and he was using it against Hux. Orienn knew the effect he had on him and played it up for the hell of it.

Either way, it didn't matter. She had mere moments left with Hux and Orienn and she needed to begin the process of breaking from their control; to cut the string binding them together. The string formed by accident and maintained by force. It was her chance to make her own decisions on how their relationships proceeded.

"Isn't it wonderful without the sound of crunching Trooper uniforms?" Orienn scraped the walls with cracking nails. "That's what it sounds like to me when they walk. I think Hux designed them specifically to piss me off."

"That design is the product of decades of research and innovation," Hux scrunched his nose, "not some wanton decision to _piss you off_."

"The hell's gotten into him?" Orienn said. "The sex must be exquisite for him to be this furious you're leaving."

"Orienn!" Sera shoved his shoulders. "Shut your mouth before I sew it closed with a blunt needle."

"Would that mean you'd stay longer? Because he's insufferable and you're leaving me alone with him again." Orienn bent, almost sending Sera over him as she tried to push him a second time.

Hux grabbed her by the scruff of her uniform to hold her upright.

"Get a hold of yourself," Hux breathed into her ear. "I told you I'll handle him. You focus on your task."

"Oh look," Orienn pointed at an average looking door Sera would have walked past without a second glance, "we're here."

"Go inside, Sera," Hux angled her towards the door while he focused on Orienn whose eyes widened at his stare. "I'll join you momentarily."

"He's going to kill you, Selys," Sera pat his ear hard enough for him to hiss as she stepped past him into the non-descript room.


End file.
